The Dimensional Twist
by Multikirby-Chaos7
Summary: The dimensions are getting all messed up and Mario and the rest of the Nintendo crew. are ready to find out who is messing with them, cause they have absolutely no clue who it is. This is a Chaos7 production.
1. Prologue Pt 1: Poems, Picnics, and Pizza

_The Dimensional Twist_

_Prologue Part 1 _

_**Poems, Picnics, And Pizza **_

_ The four heroes saved the world from woe_

_The red, the green, their girl, their foe_

_Defeated a man with the ultimate power_

_Who had it contained in the smallest flower_

_Floored and pummeled and thoroughly beaten_

_The heroes left to get started eatin_

_But there was a twist to this "Happily Ever After"_

_Nothing is impossible to a dimensional master_

_The bit he left behind is here to defy the lore_

_I'm not gone, I'm not out there's still more to see_

_I've got more up my sleeve than ever before_

_Make sure you're ready and don't forget me_

_The dimensions are mine to control_

_And it won't be too long until they're at … your… door…_

"*YAWN*… This is boring. Why can't we have a fun class, like… ummmmmm… how to fight and get violent and all that awesome stuff!" yelled the enthusiastic kid Yoshi.

"C-completely preposterous my dear lad, absolutely outrageous" puffed the old Toad "Who needs the awful stuff anyway, what with these peaceful times, history and ancient lore are much more important."

"Oh do you honestly think that what that old piece of paper says is actually true! Come on, there are probably thousands of those stupid legends everywhere that never come true." said a pink toad who obviously knew it all.

"This "old piece of paper" is one of the most important archaeological finds in the history of the Mushroom Kingdom and foretells one of the worst disasters to ever befall it," huffed the old Toad "besides, two of those "stupid legends" were the Dark Prognosticus and the Light Prognosticus and I hope you all know that those both came true."

"YES MR. TOADSWORTH!" the many young Toads and a few little Yoshies groaned.

Suddenly there was a loud ringing bell and all the children got up and hurtled to the door as if it was the gateway to paradise… and it probably was. The children rushed out on to the castle grounds while the older ones joined more slowly.

They were having a perfect little picnic in front of Peach's castle, but then…

* * *

_Meanwhile, outside Mario's house…_

"Man, it is a beautiful day outside today" sighed Luigi.

Mario nodded in agreement.

"On days like today, all you should do is sit back and relax" said Luigi

Mario nodded in agreement.

"You know, you just don't get very many days just as good as this one" stated Luigi.

Mario once again nodded in agreement.

"I think the last time we had a day this good was… Oh yeah, it was when we left on that adventure in that other world with all the weird people made out of rectangles and other odd shapes." Luigi was digging deep here.

Mario… nodded in agreement, or was he just randomly moving his head while he's asleep… Nope, probably not.

Luigi sat up "Hey is that a Toad I see running toward us?"

Mario sat up too, and when he saw the Toad in the distance, he gave out a sigh of disappointment.

"Yup you know what that means Mario, that Toad is the end of **your** relaxation." Luigi sighed a little enviously.

Mario… nodded in agreement. They waited for the Toad to reach their little home. Finally, a hot cup of tea later, there was a gasping Toad who was having a tiny bit of trouble staying conscious.

"Ma.. Ma.. Ma.. Ma.. Ma.. Ma.. Ma.. Ma.. Ma.." the Toad could barely get out Mario's name, let alone deliver the predictable message he had to give.

Luigi thought for a few minutes" Why don't I tell the message to Mario since I think I already know what it is. Ah hem… Bowser is once again trying to kidnap Princess Peach in the hopes that doing so will make her like him and when Bowser tries to kidnap Peach this will set off a bigger chain of events that will overall involve us.. uh, I mean you (another self-pitied envious sigh) and you'll probably go off on some sort of "epic" adventure and you'll make tons of new friends and go to tons of new places, and I will stay home and make **WAFFLES!** Did I get it right?"

The Toad had finally caught his breath and was now staring blankly at Luigi. "Ummmm … NO, you did not get it even remotely correct. I just came to deliver this pizza you ordered. I think the Toad you're looking for is going to arrive here right… about… NOW!"

Suddenly they heard the sound of someone screaming and they all looked up. "Hey, is there something falling from the sky?" questioned Luigi.

Mario squinted and… nodded in agreement.

"AAAAHHHHH… AH… BOOOOOOOM…..OWWWWW… OW!"

Let me describe that series of events to the readers.

Toad falls from sky. (AAAAHHHHH). Toad hits tree and falls bit more. (AH). Toad hits ground with incredible force and makes giant indent in ground. (BOOOOOOOM). Toad expresses feeling of falling 100000 ft. and hitting ground with incredible force and making giant indent in ground. (OWWWWW). Luigi pulls Toad out of ground and drops him on his broken body. (OW). Continue with the story.

"Mario… Mario… I have a me… message for you." the Toad muttered.

But Mario was already rushing off in the direction of Peach's Castle. Luigi was about to go after him but the pizza Toad stopped him. "Sorry Luigi, but I don't think this one's for you, why don't you just have a pizza and relax." Luigi took one and moodily stomped back inside. The Toad smirked and pulled out a walkie-talkie "Part One of the Dimensional Twist is in progress, everything going as planned. Doop out."


	2. Prologue Pt 2: Elsewhere

_Prologue Part 2_

_**Elsewhere…**_

It was a peaceful day in Dreamland. Like every other day in Dreamland, nothing was happening. At all. At Kirby's house, Kirby was sleeping, peacefully. A letter slipped under Kirby's door and there was a shout outside. "MAIL CALL!"

Kirby groaned, got out of bed and walked over to the letter. He opened it and started reading.

_Dear Kirby,_

_I am going to steal all the food from Dreamland and keep it for myself. I am so incredibly EVIL. Just to save trouble, come to my castle now and I'll beat you down, then I'll commence my plan. Hope you accept._

_ Your pal,_

_King DeDeDe_

"Not again. Doesn't that penguin ever change? I always win when it comes to food. But _noooo, _he just wants to make life harder. I could've spent all day in bed but now I have to go to his stupid castle and smack him upside his head with his own hammer." Kirby raged.

Despite his anger, Kirby went out the door and started his not so long journey to Castle DeDeDe. When Kirby got there, he walked through the front door. He was wondering which way to go when he saw an arrow pointing in the right direction. Once Kirby had walked a very long way, he came to the DeDeDe Arena. In the middle of the arena stood You-Know-Who.

"Yuk Yuk Yuk, you came Kirby, now prepare to be pummeled by my pure evilness and powerful awesomeness." laughed King DeDeDe.

"Yeah," Kirby scoffed "like all the other times right? You're so awesome and powerful and… I'M GONNA FLOOR YOU!"

But suddenly, before they could start fighting (lucky for the fat penguin) there was a huge tremor and a bright flash of light…

* * *

_Meanwhile on a random beach…_

"Aw, this is awesome!" Sonic shouted as he ran full tilt across the sandy whites.

"Hey Soni-" Tails was interrupted mid shout as Sonic sped past him in a blur. "Woah." he said before falling flat on his face.

Sonic was still running, and running, and running, and running, and running, and running, and… you get the picture.

_A few minutes later with Tails still on the ground (I think he's in shock). _

Sonic was still running at top speed when he saw Tails flat on the ground. "Hey little buddy, what are you doing down there?" said Sonic.

"Oh, you know me, I like to just lay here on a random beach while my face absorbs all this… sand." Tails sighed sarcastically.

"Well that's… weird, I obviously don't know you very well." said a confused Sonic.

Tails sighed again." For someone who is a great trash-talker when it comes to insulting eggs, you really don't get sarcasm that well."

"Well, are you just gonna stand… er, I mean… _lie_ there or are you going to come with me to just run around and beat up defenseless scientists?" asked Sonic.

"That's what I wanted to speak to you about, there have been rumors that Eggman is plotting to (what do you think it is, I have no clue at all. I mean _really!) _CREATE EGGMANLAND!" Tails yelled

"Again?" Sonic said.

"Yeah, he seems to fail a lot in that department and unfortunately for him, it's the only plan that he ever seems to use." Tails sighed.

"We'd better stop him before he really messes up bad. Hey, is he using a giant monster to do it this time? Cause every time that happens, he loses control of it and then he helps us, and that's just messed up." Sonic said.

"No, I don't think so but I'm not exactly sure." Tails said.

"Well, lets get moving then" and they were off… or at least Sonic was off. Tails was sort of just making his way into a random cave and getting in his Tornado and trying to catch up with Sonic.

A few seconds later, Sonic and Tails had arrived at a giant metallic building that had a sign in front of it.

"If your name is Sonic and/or Tails and/or ect. GO AWAY." Tails read.

"Well I guess this is the place then." Sonic said looking up at the tall structure.

They entered through the front door (is this a common thing for villains?) and went up a very long elevator. At the top of the building, they came to a sort of control room with a bunch of colourful buttons. Tails was practically drooling while Sonic looked around the large room. He saw a very tall, and very wide chair that looked like the control center of it all.

The chair turned around and sitting inside it was none other than… EGGMAN.

"Hahahahaha, so, you've come at last, you predictable hedgehog." cackled Eggman.

Before Sonic could speak, a red blur dropped from the ceiling and made a punch at Sonic. Sonic dodged to the side and took a good look at his mysterious opponent. It was... Knuckles?

"Knuckles? What has Eggman told you this time?" Sonic asked.

"I'll answer that question Sonic," Eggman said " and what I say is true. You, Sonic, have gone completely mad and want to take over the world and create SONICLAND. You also want to attack me repeatedly for no reason, just out of evil spite. "

"Wait, is that it!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Er… I think so. Oh yeah, Sonic also stole the Master Emerald."

"SONIC! I'm gonna punt you to the moon, blue boy."

"You're still as gullible as ever Knucklehead." Sonic sighed. " I guess I'm gonna have to knock some sense into that head of yours."

But before they could start beating each other, there was a huge tremor and bright flash of light.

* * *

_Meanwhile in a populated district…_

"Pika Pika!" exclaimed Pikachu.

"Bulba, Bulbasaur." Bulbasaur replied.

"Well if that's how it is, then go on _Squak_, I won't stop you. But don't say I didn't warn you_ Sqauk_." Chatot warned.

And so, Pikachu and Bulbasaur left on their dangerous and lengthy journey, that has nothing to do with this story.

Chatot sighed "Those two are probably not gonna come back."

Chatot then took off and flew back to the forest. He decided to look for food before going home. After he had gathered a whole bunch of nutritious berries, he heard something behind him. Through the bushes, he could see a tiny Weedle being harassed by a mysterious black Pokemon. Chatot put his berries down and went to investigate.

"Hah hah ha, you call yourself a Pokemon, and yet you refuse to battle me? Come on. I've defeated plenty of Pokemon in my day, but by far, you are the most cowardly of them all! Fine! The fee for refusal is all of your worldly possessions." the mystery Pokemon claimed.

Chatot was hiding in the bushes, and he had heard enough. "Huh, some Pokemon you are _Squak_, attacking weak Pokemon and making fun of them like that. Have you no honour _Squak_?" Chatot questioned.

The mystery Pokemon turned around, and was found out to be… nope, don't recognize him.

"Fool, you dare challenge me! You have no idea who you are dealing with." the Pokemon screamed "I am the incredible DARKRAI. All who hear my name tremble in fear. My foes all run at the sound of my voice… if they were still alive. I've faced Pokemon ten times greater than you, and they weren't even birdbags. You, if lucky enough, will leave this place with the knowledge of the power that is DARKRAI!"

"Only thing with me though, is that I'm one of those deals were you buy one and get a whole lot more for free." Chatot said calmly. But, what's this, Chatot was no longer Chatot. Chatot was now a gigantic Tyranitar. "Tyrani, Tyranitar!"

Darkrai gaped. "Them's fighting words! That's it! Prepare to feel my wrath, birdbag… er I mean. Prepare to feel my wrath, large dino thing."

But before either of them could start "unleashing their wrath", there was a huge tremor, and a bright flash of light.


	3. Prologue Pt 3: The Stairs of DOOM, T ect

_Prologue Part 3_

**The Stairs of DOOM, The Koopa of DOOM, and The Princess of PEACHES**

The sky had turned a dark burgundy (The way it always does when you're around a bad guy), and Mario was getting tired of running. Just when he thought he could take no more of it, he arrived at Peach's Castle. Still partially out of breath, he entered the castle and started going straight to the top. (That's where bad guys usually are right?) Looking around the castle, he noticed something strange. There was no one, anywhere, at all. No annoying Toads. No cowering Yoshis. No odd penguins. No nice Koopas. No nothing.

Mario continued his assault at the many stairs of this blasted castle. " _This castle has been here for over a century and it always stays the same. They never even built an elevator." _Mario thought angrily.

He suddenly came to a door with a sign on it. "Do Not Enter, THAT MEANS YOU MARIO". Naturally, Mario opened the door and strode in. Inside the room, it was very dark. Mario flicked on a light switch he found by the door and looked around. It was a small room, with barely anything in it, except for a fancy wardrobe.

Mario went over to the wardrobe, grabbed the handle and opened the door. He gasped in surprise. There were over 50 Toads in here, heck every single person who lived in the castle was here. "Oh! Oh no don't hurt us please! We were only… Oh it's you Master Mario. Thank goodness you're here." Toadsworth exclaimed. (Who looked like he was uncomfortable, due to the abnormally large Yoshi on top of him, and a pile of Toad children squishing him against the wall.).

"We are in desperate need of your help Master Mario. Bowser has once again infiltrated our beloved Kingdom. He attacked with such agility, that our guards had no time to think. They would have had more time, if they hadn't _sleeping._ Anyway, Bowser stuffed us all in here, very rudely I might add, and promptly left." Toadsworth explained. "The Princess is in the topmost room of the castle, and I think Bowser is heading up there now. You must save the Princess Mario, please."

Mario nodded solemnly and exited the room. He turned grudgingly back to the stairs and started up them. Near the top of the staircase, Mario heard some voices from a nearby room. He peered around the door to look inside. There was a Hammer Bro and a Paratroopa talking to each other.

"Heh, this was almost too easy." the Hammer Bro bragged. "These pathetic Toads should find a new occupation, cause they 're certainly not very good at protecting their _beloved _princess."

"It was too easy, because Mario hasn't popped up yet." Paratroopa said. "He's gonna come to this castle and totally annihilate us … maybe even… King Bowser."

"Oh come on, there's no way Mario could know about this, we made sure Parakarry was taken care of, so there would be no cake letters whatsoever. And there's no worry about Mario beating Bowser, he's got that secret weapon remember? We also stuffed all the people in this castle in that cupboard, so no Toad's can go whining to ol' Jumpsalot." reassured Hammer Bro.

"Uh… sl-slight p-problem there." the Paratroopa stuttered.

"What? What could possibly be wrong with this foolproof plan?" Hammer Bro asked.

"Um… We sort of let one Toad go, you know, just for fun, out of a Banzai Bill Blaster, right out into the sky, heh heh." Paratroopa chuckled.

"Oh… well… hmmmmm… I think that's okay, since the Toad probably wouldn't survive the fall, so as long as Mario didn't see him fall, then we're still safe. You're sure it was just that one Toad? No others escaped?"

"Yup, we patrolled the entire area. Not even any Toads from Toad Town got out. Every single Toad in the entire Mushroom Kingdom is under our surveillance. Yup, we're totally safe."

They both let out sighs of relief. They were completely safe. No Mario. No Toads. No nothing. Yes, those guys wouldn't see the light of day for a long while, due to being stomped upon by a couple, state of the art, good old-fashioned shoes, Mario style.

After that small episode, Mario continued up the never-ending staircase. After what seemed an hour of stairs, and it probably was, Mario finally reached the top. Panting, he went over to the only door in sight. He opened it slightly and peeked through. He saw the great King Koopa himself.

Mario, seeing it was only Bowser, entered the room with confidence. When he was almost directly behind Bowser, the ferocious Koopa turned around.

"Ghahahahaha, so, you've come at last Mario. I expected your arrival, you always do manage to at least attempt to ruin my plans." Bowser laughed. "Yes, I've had troubles in the past with you, but this time, I came prepared."

Suddenly, there was a great flash of green light and Mario was blinded by it for a few seconds. When his eyes adjusted he saw that Bowser was no longer before him. In his place, was a giant grotesque, and uglier form of Bowser towering over him.

"Haha you weren't expecting that, now were you. Like it? I like to call it Super Bowser. Awesome name isn't it? My minions suggested Giga Bowser, but I like Super Bowser more. Anyway, you and your puny Kingdom are no match for my strength. No one can beat me, not even you. Now, prepare to watch helplessly, as I take your Princess once again, and leave this castle in the ruin it should have been in a very long time ago."

And with that, he turned around and went into the final room of the castle. There was a scream and then a few seconds later, out came "Super" Bowser with Peach in his hand. He walked over to Mario and showed him something in his other hand. "You know what this is Mario? This is a bomb, that's going to blow this castle to kingdom come. You can say good-bye to your little Princess now Mario. You're never gonna see her or your stupid Mushrooms again." and with that he put the bomb down and set it for ten minutes.

"Gwhahaha this is it then I guess. Later Mario, forever. Aw yeah I'm soooo evil." Bowser then left the Mushroom Kingdom to its doom, or tried to leave the Mushroom Kingdom to its doom.

"AAAAUGH! This door is too small for my stupid Super state. I forgot how to get out of it. Curse you Kammy. Now I'm gonna die with my nemesis. This was not part of the plan." He sat down and started pouting.

The minutes passed by. After the three minute mark Bowser started talking. "You know Mario, if this is really the end, then I guess I should say sorry to you for all those times I kidnapped Peach and tried to do all that bad stuff to you. I'll say sorry to you too Peach. I really did like you, and I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you." Bowser then put Peach down and went to the far corner alone.

Peach walked over to Mario's cage. " Bowser's never been like this before. I never knew he had it in him. Well Mario, this is really it I guess. Bowser has finally gone too far for once. I'm glad we got to know each other, and I'm sorry I got you involved in the whole Bowser thing." Peach said. She had tears in her eyes.

Mario looked back to her and nodded. Those ten minutes were the longest ten minutes in Mario's entire life, even longer than those hours of Toadsworth's past _exciting _escapades. Thirty… Bowser was staring at the bomb with pure sadness and regret in his eyes. Twenty… Peach was holding Mario's hand tightly in her own. Ten… They all bowed their heads and waited for the explosion. Five… Four… Three… Two… One. Mario and Peach looked into each other's eyes and said one final silent goodbye…

"_Hm, this ending doesn't work with my perfect plan. No, no absolutely not. Not today Mario but don't worry. Yours will come, like the strike of lightning, like all lives in these stupid worlds, yours will come._

_Suddenly, there was a great tremor, and a bright flash of light._

_

* * *

_**There you have it, the Prologue. This was fun for me to write and I hope you're all enjoying it too. I'll try to update this 1 to 2 times a week. I just sorta write when I have the time and inspiration. Anyway, I hope you like it so far and don't forget to review.**

_**Chaos7**_


	4. Ch 1 Pt 1: And So It Begins

_Chapter 1 Part 1_

_**And So It Begins**_

Slowly, Mario opened his eyes. He was in the middle of a field. It was almost too peaceful. The bright green grass. The vivid red apples hanging off the trees. The flowers seemed to be dancing in the wind.

Mario sat up. He had never seen this place before. "_Am I dead?" _he wondered. Suddenly, a bunch of round orange things ran past him at full speed. He watched them as they sped into the distance. "_Where are they going in such a hurry?" _Mario thought.

Mario looked in the direction they came from. Over a hill came a masked figure. He was walking at a steady pace towards him. Mario got up and waited for him to arrive. When the figure got closer, Mario could see that he had a round body and that was it. He did have a mask that covered his entire body, and a cape too. He had steel boots and white gloves, and carried a sword that looked like a golden flame, with a red jewel at the hilt.

The figure looked up at Mario through the visor of his mask. Staring at him were two vibrant yellow eyes. They both stared at each other for a while, then the masked one spoke.

"Hello, silent one, it is good to finally meet you." he said. " Allow me to introduce myself. I have many names in many different places, but I am most commonly referred to as Meta Knight."

Mario nodded and pointed to himself.

"Yes, I know who you are. Though I am one of the few that will know you in this place. You are not as famous here as you were in your own realm. Oh, pardon me, I am getting ahead of myself. Follow me, and I will be able to explain more."

Meta Knight then turned around and, without looking to see if Mario was following, walked back the way he had come. Mario glanced back to the horizon where the orange circles had disappeared to.

"Do not worry, I will not hurt you," Meta Knight reassured, as if reading his thoughts. " Those Waddle-Dees are cowards to the core. They're not too bright either."

Mario looked back one last time and followed Meta Knight. They walked a very long way until they came to a mountain. Mario looked up and was surprised to find that he could not see the top. The tip of the mountain was shrouded in icy blue clouds.

Without speaking, Meta Knight started up the mountain. Mario followed after him. The road wasn't too tough, but it quickly got harder. Pretty soon, Mario was trekking almost straight upwards. Finally, they came to the end of the path, except, that was all it was. The end of the path. There was nothing anywhere. Just a tall cliff standing in their way.

Meta Knight kept walking towards the rock wall. Right before Mario thought he was gonna walk right into it, Meta Knight's cape turned into a pair of bat-like wings. He quickly jumped up using his wings to propel him. He jumped off of little edges in the giant wall, and was soon at the top. He turned around, looked down at Mario and then continued out of sight.

Mario analyzed the wall, and, after a thorough examination, jumped up to the first ledge. He grabbed it and pulled himself up, and looked for the next ledge to jump to. This continued, with many of the ledges impossible to stand on, which required a bit of climbing on Mario's part. In a few minutes, Mario was on all fours panting on the ground at the top.

Mario got up and looked for Meta Knight. He saw that he was near the top of the mountain, but he still couldn't see the top. He also saw a cave, which was the only way to go from where he was. Mario walked over to the cave and peered inside. It was very dark and Mario couldn't see beyond more than two feet into the cave. Mario walked in cautiously, looking around. It just looked like a simple cave. Mario kept on walking until he could see a light ahead. It was the light of a fire. Mario sped up his pace towards the light. He came out into a cozy room with a fireplace, a carpet, some comfy looking chairs, a table, a bed, and a whole bunch of books. The bookshelves were covering the entire walls. There were probably thousands of them. Mario looked around in amazement. Not even Toadbert, the Toad librarian, and retired adventurer, had this many books.

Meta Knight was sitting in one of the chairs by the fireplace with a book. He looked up at Mario. "Ah, I see you have finally arrived." He closed the book and gestured for Mario to sit in the chair across from him.

Mario walked over and sat in the red chair. It was the comfiest thing he had ever sat in. As Mario got comfortable, Meta Knight cleared his throat, and began talking.

"Now, Mario, I will tell you of something that you probably know a little about already." Meta Knight started. " You already know that there are multiple dimensions besides your own. Well, just a few hours ago, every single dimension was majorly distorted. I am not sure of the cause, but the results were disastrous. In each dimension, there was a centre of distortion. In yours, it was Princess Peach's castle. All the people who were in the area of the centre of distortion were thrown across the dimensions. You ended up here, in Dreamland. The distortion has caused all the dimensions to be meshed together. There are very few people who know about the different dimensions. I am the only one in Dreamland who knows about them. Your dimension is unique in the fact that almost everyone knew about the different dimensions, due to your adventures. The others who were at the centre of distortion who knew nothing of other dimensions are probably really confused right now. I think this world's hero was having a confrontation with this world's villain when the distortion took place." Meta Knight said.

Mario had a confused look on his face.

"You are wondering why I am telling you this, yes? Well, the reason has to do with the five main dimensions. The Mushroom Kingdom is one. Dreamland is another. Then there was one called Mobius. The fourth was the Pokemon world. The fifth one was… ohhh, the name for that one always eludes me. Anyway, I have a theory. Whatever caused these distortions, it was not natural. They were caused by someone. I do not know who would do such a thing but whoever it was, they must be stopped. If all the heroes of the main world's grouped together, I believe they would be able to defeat this hidden foe. While you try and find the rest of the heroes, I will try and find out who this villain is. I suggest you look for Kirby first, since he is the hero of Dreamland and knows this area better than most. He was at the centre of distortion for this world, at Castle DeDeDe. I'm sure he's around here somewhere. Just look around for him." Meta Knight finished.

Mario nodded and, a little dazed, left the cave and started his descent down the mountain.

And so began his long journey across the dimensions.


	5. Ch 1 Pt 2: A Foe is Found

_Chapter 1 Part 2_

_**A Foe Is Found**_

Mario was just finishing his descent down the mountain when he heard an earsplitting shriek. He looked up into the sky and saw a blue blur race overhead at an incredible speed. It was already almost completely out of sight. Mario stared after it for a moment and then decided to ignore it.

He reached the bottom of the mountain and looked for a good place to start searching for Kirby. While Mario was hunting around, he heard some cries coming from a nearby forest. He went over to investigate. When he reached the foot of the woods, he saw a sign.

**WARNING:** _**Unless you are a deformed, pink marshmallow who can eat most anything, it is not recommended you enter this forest. Seriously, you should not come in here. It is extremely dangerous. I'm not going to say why, but trust me.**_

Mario barely even bothered to read the sign and kept on walking. As he got deeper into the greenery, he began to see more signs.

**WARNING**_**: You have obviously ignored the first sign. I strongly advise you to not go any further. You will be putting your life in great danger. Do not advance beyond this point.**_

Mario kept walking.

**WARNING:** _**You should really not be ignoring these signs; this is a matter of life and death. These woods are teeming with things that could totally mess you up. Turn back now while you still can.**_

Mario kept walking.

_**PLEA: Please turn around now. There is candy as a reward if you turn back now! Just don't go any further. I'm begging you, for your safety, please turn around!**_

Mario looked at this sign a bit longer but still kept walking. The cries he had heard were getting louder and louder with each step.

**RELUCTANT AGREEMENT:** _**Fine, go ahead, it's your life, not mine. But don't say I didn't warn you. You are in for some serious pain you ignorant sign ignorer. Go ahead and meet your doom.**_

Mario walked on, the cries of pain getting louder and louder, and he eventually reached a clearing. Mario hid behind a tree and analyzed the scene going on in front of him.

There were several of the orange things he had seen before, except a few of them had one giant eye covering their entire face. There was also a great fat penguin with a huge hammer and bright red clothing standing in front of them. He also saw a cage hanging from a tree, but he couldn't see inside it. Mario leaned in closer to try and hear what the penguin was saying.

"Alright, Alright, I'll repeat it once again for those late comers, but no after dinner snacks for anyone. This is the fifth time I've had to explain our plan! Ah-hem, now that we have mister puffball out of the way, and we have this trouble maker taken care of," he gestured to the cage. " we will be able to take care of business without being disturbed. Squadron A, you will be starting construction of the ultimate factory of Floro Sprouts. Remember to disguise it as a tree, so no one suspects anything. Just try and build in the shape of a tree, I don't really care, just get it done." he instructed.

"Squadron B, you will be in charge of the super secret attack mission on Mount TopTop over there. I will accompany you on this assault, for this is not an easy mission. We will be facing the masked terror at the top of the mountain and we will need a lot of strength, and maybe some luck, to pull it off successfully." the penguin stated bravely.

"Squadron C, you will be staying here to guard the prisoner. You are a small group, but I don't think he'll be that much trouble for you. Ol' King DeDeDe fixed him up with a good solid pummeling, yuk yuk yuk. Right, to me my loyal Waddle Dees and Doos, by tomorrow, we will be in control of Dreamland completely!" King DeDeDe bellowed.

"YAAAAAAH!" all the Waddle Doos and Dees cheered.

"You won't get away with this , you pompous old penguin." came a weak but defiant voice from the cage.

"That's _royal _pompous old penguin to you, you pathetic weakling, and I will get away with whatever I want, and none will stop me, especially you! YUK YUK YUK!" King DeDeDe laughed. "Let's get back to our temporary HQ and stock up for battle. We can rebuild Castle DeDeDe after today." With that, the great penguin and the majority of his forces marched off deeper into the forest.

"Come back here and give me a fair fight and then we'll see who's the weakling _Squack_!" the voice from the cage yelled.

Another fairly large group left in a completely different direction, probably Squadron A.

This left only a few Waddle Dees, maybe 5 or 6. Mario thought for a moment. They were preparing to attack Meta Knight, he just knew it. He would have to help Meta Knight against this attack, but Mario would need some help. He looked again at the cage. Whoever was in there didn't like the penguin, and would probably help him stop King DeDeDe and his evil plan.

Quickly, Mario stepped out from behind the tree and stomped upon all of the guards in succession. They offered no resistance and scattered in defeat. Mario would need to do this quick, just in case they went for help.

He jumped up to the cage and grabbed it. The rope must not have been very strong because it broke almost immediately. The cage broke when it hit the ground and Mario looked to see who the prisoner was.

It was some sort of blue bird. It had a black head, with a weird sprouty thing protruding from the top. It looked like a tropical bird of some sort, based on its strange colorings. Mario looked down in disappointment. How was something this small going to help him against an army led by a giant penguin King.

The bird stood up and looked at him curiously. "Hello _Squawk. _Thank you for freeing me from that infernal thing. I was going nuts in there. Had some gadget in it, so I couldn't even transform_ Squawk_. Anyway, my name is Chatot, it is pleasant to meet you. Who, may I ask, are you?" chattered the bird.

Mario did a little twirl and took off his cap in a bow." Its-a me, Mario"

"Mario eh? Hmm haven't heard that name before_ Squawk_. Anyway, we don't have time for pleasantries. You saw that big penguin? I'm not exactly sure what he's planning but it ain't good _Squawk_. I was just hopping along, exploring a bit, and POW, he whams me on the back of the head with that walloper of his. No one who does that can be a good guy. We need to get out of here, before he comes back _Squawk_. Follow me, if you can keep up."

Chatot then leaped up and started flying to the edge of the forest. Mario trotted after him. After running for a while, they escaped the huge expanse of trees. Chatot landed, and waited for Mario to catch up.

"You're faster than you look Mario _Squawk_. I'm guessing this isn't your first time doing this sort of thing. Anyway, we need to stop King DeDeDe in whatever he's planning _Squawk_. I have a suggestion. Just before you rescued me, King DeDeDe was talking about some masked terror up on a mountain somewhere. Wanted to get rid of him or something_ Squawk_. An enemy to that penguin is probably a friend of ours, and we'll need all the help we can get with that annoying orange army. Perfect plan right? Off we go then_ Squawk_."

Mario smacked his head as he started to follow Chatot to the nearest mountain, which, lucky for them, was the mountain Meta Knight lived on. When they reached the foot of the mountain, Mario looked up in dismay. He would have to climb this blasted mountain a second time. But his worries were in vain.

"Hey! Look over there _Squawk_, someone is coming down the mountain." Chatot was frantically pointing with his wing.

Mario looked over to where he was pointing, and was surprised to see that it was Meta Knight coming down the mountain.

"Do you think that could be the masked terror? He is wearing a mask _Squawk_. Well, we won't find out by just gaping here, come on, let's ask him who he is." Chatot took off and left to go see Meta Knight. Mario was getting tired of running after this flying chatterbox.

They reached the beginning of the path just as Meta Knight had climbed down. "Oh, Mario, I didn't expect you to be back so quickly. Did you find Kirby yet? No? Too bad. But who is this bird friend of yours? Ha. Silly me. That question would probably be better answered by the bird himself." Meta Knight turned to Chatot.

Before Meta Knight could get out a word, Chatot introduced himself." Hi there. I'm very pleased too meet you _Squawk_. We've been running around for a while looking for someone called the masked terror. You really fit the bill ,_Squawk,_ because you look mysterious and scary, and have that weird yellow sword, and most importantly, that mask. It looks really cool _Squawk_. Oh, by the way, my name's Chatot. What's yours?"

Meta Knight was silent for a bit. "Well Mario, your friend certainly isn't as shy as you when it comes to conversing. My name is Meta Knight. Delighted to meet you Chatot. Why, may I ask, are you following Mario around? Are you helping him in his quest? Or is he helping you?"

"Your on a quest Mario? Wow _Squawk_, so you do do this sort of thing all the time. Could've fooled me. You don't look like an adventurer _Squawk_. Anyway, to get back on track here, Meta Knight, King DeDeDe is coming to attack your mountain here, to try and get rid of you so he can rule Dreamland _Squawk_. We need to get out of here, unless you want to fight them, which I'm not against." Chatot growled, or growled as much as is possible for a bird.

"King DeDeDe is coming here, hahaha? You two have nothing to worry about. King DeDeDe will never take this mountain, or me. You two run along now and I'll deal with this. Mario, just continue your quest or whatever. Don't worry about me. Don't come back here though. This fight might get a little ugly, and someone could get hurt. Why don't you help him Chatot. On your way now."

Mario and Chatot stared at each other and then they looked at Meta Knight. Finally, they turned around and started walking out into the rolling greens of Dreamland. They just walked on and on in silence, until they came to a giant patch of flowers. In the middle of the flowers was… Meta Knight?

Meta Knight looked up in surprise. " Oh, Mario, hello, how goes the adventure? Find Kirby yet. No? Too bad. But you did find a Pokemon, and it could be one of the heroes. And that reminds me, I have something important to tell you."

Mario stared in surprise. Chatot spoke his thoughts. " What! You seriously don't remember me _Squawk_? We just met a few minutes ago. Is there something wrong with your memory Meta Knight _Squawk_. And how do you know I'm a Pokemon? Nobody else here does. And how come you didn't point out I was a Pokemon when we talked to you after you climbed down the mountain?"

Meta Knight got up." I was not the one who talked to you. I only climb up the mountain, never down. I would much rather glide off the top then use my feet. Whoever you talked with at the base of the mountain was not me. And that is concerning. What did you say to my imposter."

Mario and Chatot were both wide eyed. "The only thing we really said was, my name _Squawk_, and that King DeDeDe is about to attack your mountain." Chatot explained.

"WHAT? King DeDeDe cannot conquer the mountain. All is lost if he does. We must get back there now!"

He took of in the direction of his home, with Mario and Chatot running desperately after him.

_To be continued…_


	6. Ch 1 Pt 3: Hit and Run

_Chapter 1 Part 3 _

_**Hit and Run**_

"Hah, those fools were too easy to trick. Oh, yes, I am so smart. Pretend to be one of their friends and poof, they trust you completely. They're not too bright. Now we have Meta Knight all to ourselves." laughed a figure draped in a white sheet, with a party hat on top.

"Well King DeDeDe, he's all yours, my job here is done, I'll be on my way back to the castle." the figure said.

"Thanks Doopliss, the boss'll be pleased about this. Haha this is the first step in total domination for the bad guys. Ahhh I love my job." King DeDeDe chuckled.

Then he squinted into the distance." Hey, what's that over there?"

Doopliss looked too." Oh it's just a few people running toward this mountain. Nothing to worry about-I think. Just in case, I'm getting out of here to meet with the boss." And with that, Doopliss turned into a bat and flew away.

Mario and co. were rapidly approaching the mountain. He saw King DeDeDe's army just about to climb it. They all put on an extra burst of speed toward the mountain. When they were almost right in front of them King DeDeDe laughed.

"You think we were just waiting for you to get here? We're not that dumb. You've fallen right into my trap. Yuk Yuk Yuk."

And then Mario felt the ground underneath him start to shift and shake. Suddenly, he was standing in midair with no ground beneath him. He and Chatot and Meta Knight fell into the pit.

"Yuk Yuk Yuk. Pitfall trap. Oldest in the book, but it almost always works. Yuk Yuk Yuk."

"How'd you build a pitfall _Squawk_? We saw you while we were running. You weren't digging no hole _Squawk_." Chatot said angrily.

"My Waddle Dees are more capable than you originally thought." King DeDeDe said.

He looked down into the hole.

"What's this? Is that Meta Knight down there? And, that's that bird that we captured. So that's where you went. Joined up with ol' Mario eh?"

"Yah, didn't anticipate prisoners with wings did you_ Squawk_? Now I'm gonna fly out of here and teach you some manners _Squawk_! Meta Knight, you are free to join me." Chatot squawked.

He took off along with Meta Knight.

_CLANG!_

They fell back down into the hole. There was a grate covering the opening.

"Yuk Yuk Yuk, actually, I did anticipate prisoners with wings. That's why I built this portable grate. Keeps your prisoners where you want them. Yuk Yuk Yuk. Now I'll just go up to your cave Meta Knight and take whatever the boss told me to find in there." King DeDeDe turned around and strutted off towards the mountain.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and King DeDeDe turned around. A huge beam was coming out of the hole. It disintegrated the grate in a matter of seconds. King DeDeDe stared horrified, as a giant green beast climbed out of the hole, with Mario and Meta Knight on its back.

"Did you anticipate _this,_ King DeDeDe? It turns out that our friend Chatot is one of the four heroes, for he appears to have mastered the technique of transformation as foretold in one of my old prophecy scripts." Meta Knight explained as he and Mario jumped off the beast's back.

"If my research is correct, this monster is called Tyranitar, a fearsome foe to any." a Waddle Dee beside the King said.

King DeDeDe looked surprisingly at the Waddle Dee." Where did you learn that?"

"Mercenary school!"

"There's a school for mercenaries? I thought to be a mercenary, all you have to do is have a tiny bit of military training and ask for money to hurt people." King DeDeDe mused.

"The school years are very short."

"Ok, anyway, back to this Tyranitar. My mission was to get the book and then skedaddle, but it seems I'll have to do a bit of fighting to get there." King DeDeDe tightened his grip on his hammer, and with a flick of a wrist, gave the signal for his army to assemble for battle. Meta Knight brandished his sword and Mario pulled out his hammer. Tyranitar smirked.

They stared each other down for a while, and then…

"YAAARGH!" with a battle cry from a random Waddle Doo, the fight started.

King DeDeDe went straight for Tyranitar, with a good amount of Waddle Dees and Doos following. Mario was swarmed in moments. The Waddle Dees piled on top of him. Suddenly they started flying off of Mario in all directions. At the bottom of the pile, Mario was spinning in circles with his hammer. He then leaped into another mob of the orange army.

Meta Knight was completely surrounded but unfazed. "Come to me." he taunted with his sword. A Waddle Doo snuck up behind him and fired a laser out of his giant eye. Meta Knight gave an evasive leap into the air and then came down with his weapon at the ready. Gliding through the enemy ranks, he hacked and slashed at anything in his way. Meanwhile, Tyranitar was fighting claw to hammer with King DeDeDe. They were battering each other with all they had. The Waddle Dees and Doos that had went with King DeDeDe had been pushed aside long ago.

"Good thing I caught you by surprise, or else I might not have been able to capture you." panted King DeDeDe.

Tyranitar grunted in response, and then opened its mouth wide. King DeDeDe could see energy gathering in Tyranitar's mouth. If he didn't get out of the way, he was finished. He pressed a button on his hammer. One side of his hammer suddenly turned into a jet engine. The engine began to fire up as King DeDeDe held it steady.

They both let their attacks loose at the same time. Tyranitar fired a giant beam from his mouth and King DeDeDe hammered it into the ground with his reinforced weapon. The explosion was catastrophic. Everyone was blown backwards. When the smoke cleared, Mario could see Meta Knight struggling to get up and Tyranitar was on the ground as well. Some Waddle Dees were knocked down, but there were still hundreds standing… some hadn't even seen battle yet. King DeDeDe got up and laughed.

"You can't win, I've got a limitless army at my disposal, and there are only three of you. Don't play at being a hero; you've lost. Surrender and I won't have to hurt you further. I'll just take you to the boss. He'll be the one to decide whether you get hurt or not. Yuk Yuk Yuk."

Mario crawled over to Meta Knight.

"He is right, we cannot win against these insurmountable odds. We need to think of something else." whispered Meta Knight.

Mario nodded and looked around. His gaze landed on Tyranitar, who was just now starting to get up. He pointed to Tyranitar and looked at Meta Knight.

"Hmm. Yes, I think I know what you're thinking…" Meta Knight guessed. "Maybe our friend over there could change into something allowing us to escape. A bird perhaps? We could rush up to my cave and grab the book of prophecies that King DeDeDe wants, for I am almost certain that is what he is after. We can fly to safety afterwards."

Mario nodded.

"You're running out of time for your little negotiations over there. Make up your mind. Will you surrender, or will you die now?" King DeDeDe was getting impatient.

Meta Knight nodded to Mario and then went to inform Tyranitar of the plan. Mario looked at the great King and walked slowly towards him. When he reached the fat penguin, King DeDeDe glared down at him.

"Well….?" he said.

Mario looked up defiantly. Quick as lighting, Mario took out his hammer and bonked King DeDeDe straight on the head. Dazed, the King fell over on the ground. His army stood shocked, but not for long. They started after Mario. Mario turned around to see Meta Knight climbing onto a giant bird Pokemon that was almost the same size as the giant Tyranitar it once was. Mario ran and quickly jumped up on it's back. It immediately took off into the sky with a screech. Already the ground was far below them. Meta Knight directed the giant bird to his cave with quiet instructions.

Mario looked down and could see King DeDeDe jumping up and down in frustration and then start running up the mountain. Mario looked up and saw that they were already at the cave.

They landed quickly and Meta Knight jumped off. "We must move quickly, they will be here soon." Meta Knight rushed off to his cave. Mario followed him while the big bird stayed behind. He saw Meta Knight rummaging around his giant bookcase.

"I must get all my important books and scriptures before he arrives. Here, grab these and put them in that bag near the entrance." Meta Knight threw a couple hefty textbooks to Mario. Mario went over and with difficulty, picked them both up and carried them to the bag by the entrance. He came back and got some more books, with the occasional piece of parchment.

This went on for a while. Mario was getting impatient. King DeDeDe was going to be there any minute.

"Almost done… Just a few more articles." Meta Knight reassured. The bag was getting pretty full. Mario heard faint shouting from outside the cave, he rushed over to Meta Knight and started waving his arms frantically.

"Yes I know we must hurry, but I only have a few left. Don't worry I think we still have some ti-… I can hear shouting. Quick, we must get out of here now." he jumped down off the ladder he was on and rushed out of the cave, with Mario lugging the book bag behind him.

Outside, the shouting was much louder. Meta Knight was already on the big bird. "Hurry, they are almost here!" Meta Knight shouted.

Mario went as fast as he could with the heavy bag behind him. Suddenly, King DeDeDe came around the corner. " There you are. There's no escape this time Mario!" King DeDeDe started running towards them.

Mario put on an extra boost of speed. Meta Knight extended a hand for Mario to grab. Just as Mario grabbed it, King DeDeDe grabbed the bag of books. Mario was in the middle of a tug of war. Meta Knight must have had some hidden strength because it was a pretty even fight. Mario could feel the book bag beginning to rip. He would have to think of something quick.

Then he had an idea. Mario let go of the bag and wrenched his hand from Meta Knight's grasp. King DeDeDe lost his balance and fell backwards . Quickly, Mario whacked the King's hand with his hammer and he instinctively let go of the bag. Mario grabbed it, mustered all his strength, and jumped onto the giant bird.

Immediately, it took off, leaving King DeDeDe jumping up and down in anger once again. Mario looked at Meta Knight.

"Do not worry, I know somewhere hidden where they will not find us. There we can talk about our plan of action."

And so Mario hung on tight and watched the moving scenery go by as Meta Knight drove the bird to his hiding place.


	7. Ch 1 Pt 4: Going Places

Chapter 1 Part 4

_**Going Places**_

"We finally have peace, and now we can talk." Meta Knight sighed.

They were in a dank cave sitting around a tree stump. It wasn't the most comfortable spot, but Meta Knight had said that it was perfect for a hiding place. He had found it once by accident, wandering through the deepest of dark forests in all of Dreamland, where few dare to tread.

Nobody would find them here. Almost no one even knew it existed, let alone try to enter its foreboding depths.

" Now, down to business. After you left Mario, I buried myself in all the old texts to try and find more information for you. I didn't find much, but what I did find was something about one of the heroes." At this, Meta Knight glanced at Chatot, who was sleeping on the other side of the cave. After they had landed, the big bird had changed back to Chatot. He was so tired from all the flying, that it wasn't too long until he collapsed out of fatigue. Meta Knight carried him over to the least wet part of the cave to let him rest.

"Apparently, the hero of the Pokemon world had transformation powers. It could transform into any Pokemon. And not only Pokemon, it could also change into things like rocks and trees and even mountains. I'm not sure if it can transform into anything living other than Pokemon though. Our little friend Chatot has already proven himself as that hero." Meta Knight explained.

Mario nodded and looked at Chatot in admiration. He had thought that this little bird would be a hindrance, but he had proved the exact opposite.

"I do not think Kirby is in Dreamland, and neither are any of the other heroes. You will have to leave Dreamland to look for the rest. I was thinking of heading to the Pokemon world now that you have Chatot. The dimensions have all been meshed, so maybe if you could fly around and see if Chatot will recognize something from his own world." Meta Knight decided.

"That doesn't sound like a very reliable plan _Squawk_." Chatot piped up.

He struggled to his feet and wobbled over to the tree stump.

"Well, well, our hero awakes. I must thank you Chatot. Without you, we would not have escaped from King DeDeDe, and all would have been lost." Meta Knight bowed graciously to Chatot. (If you've ever seen a circle with feet bow, you know that it looks like that circle with feet just lost its feet.)

"Oh, it was nothing really _Squawk_. Would've done the same for anyone really. Had to get away from King DeDeDe and all that. _Squawk_." Chatot blushed.

"So is it true that you can change into any Pokemon in the world, because I have read legends about some ferocious Pokemon that would greatly help us defeat King DeDeDe and whoever his "Boss" is." Meta Knight said excitedly.

Chatot looked up at Meta Knight." Er… no I can't change into _every_ single one. Only Pokemon I've seen for myself. I'm lucky cause I've been in some pretty tight spots, and have met some strong Pokemon."

"Oh, that's too bad. So why do you change to Chatot all the time? Personal preference?" Meta Knight asked.

" No, it's not that, _Squawk_, it's just that Chatot is the only Pokemon I've met that doesn't just say its name over and over, _Squawk_. It's so I can communicate with non-Pokemon, and in my world, we have humans as well as Pokemon, _Squawk_." Chatot explained.

"Oh yes, speaking of your world, we were just talking about trying to find it. We were hoping you could walk around until you recognize something from your world." Meta Knight said.

"Yah, I heard that, _Squawk._ Why walk around aimlessly when we already know where it is." Chatot said.

"You know where it is? How? The dimensions all got twisted. Everything is not where it once was. Dreamland got the least messed up because Castle DeDeDe is so big. It contained the centre of distortion pretty well." Meta Knight questioned, surprised.

"I don't know about any dimensions, _Squawk_, but right before I was about to fight a bad Pokemon in my world, there was this great flash of light, the ground shook, and suddenly, I woke up here,_ Squawk_. I walked around for a bit, when suddenly, I saw some tall buildings in the distance. I recognized them as the skyscrapers of Hiun City, _Squawk_, the capital of the area I lived in. I was just about to fly over there when that penguin got me." Chatot said angrily.

"Well, that is interesting, but before we talk further, I think I should fill you in on all the things that have been happening so far. Ah hem… All the dimensions have been messed up…" Meta Knight started.

Mario had already heard this, so he headed out of the cave. Outside, the forest was even darker than when they had first arrived. It must be nighttime. Mario looked up and barely saw the starry sky through the dense trees. Suddenly, he heard a screech and saw a blue object zoom overhead. Mario had seen that blue streak before. It was right before he had rescued Chatot.

While Mario gazed upwards, wondering about what it was, Meta Knight came out of the cave.

"I finished bringing Chatot up to speed and now we will talk of where you should go next." Meta Knight told Mario.

Mario followed Meta Knight back inside the cave and they sat around the tree stump.

"Before we get started, _Squawk_, I have a question. How is there a tree stump in the middle of a dark cave,_ Squawk_." Chatot asked.

"Oh, that's simple. A long time ago, I found a fallen tree in this forest. I thought it might be useful as a desk in this cave, so I cut the top and all the roots off. Then I brought it here. It's a lot lighter than it looks." Meta Knight explained.

"Oh… Anyway back to our initial quest, _Squawk_. Meta Knight told me about how all the dimensions are mixed up, _Squawk_, and how there is some hidden foe behind it. I've decided to join you on your quest Mario. There's no way around it really_, Squawk_. If Meta Knight's old smelly books say I'm one of the heroes then I have to join you. Besides, _Squawk_, you're gonna need my help." Chatot said.

"Yes, and on that note, let us discuss your next destination." Meta Knight said. "I think you should head for the city Chatot spoke of. One of the heroes might be there somewhere. We need to find all of them as quickly as possible. The texts describe one of the heroes to be a blue hedgehog that can run as fast as lightning. That one sounds like he might be easy to find. Once again, I shall stay here and dig up all I can to help you. Lucky we saved all those books." At this, Meta Knight looked at the bulging bag.

"_Squawk_, just leave everything to me Mario, I'll guide us there. It'll be a piece of cake." Chatot reassured.

Mario nodded, waved good-bye to Meta Knight, and led the way out of the cave. Chatot flew up into the sky, looked around, then came back down.

"I can see it, but it's a distance away. Get ready for some walking, _Squawk_." Chatot said.

Meta Knight rushed out of the cave. "Wait! I almost forgot something. You will need these where you are going." He held out multiple tiny gadgets. "I got them from a friend. They translate anything you hear into English so you can understand everything, even the blabber of Pokemon. I'll give you more than one for the others on your journey."

Mario nodded and offered one to Chatot, but Chatot refused. "I can understand the _blabber _of Pokemon just fine thank you _Squawk_."

Following Chatot, Mario emerged from the dark forest into the familiar green hills of Dreamland. After walking for a very long way Mario saw some tall grey shadows in the distance. As they got closer, the grey shapes materialized into tall skyscrapers. When they reached the edge Chatot looked at the long line of buildings bordering the grassy greens of Dreamland.

"Wow, the dimensions really are messed up, _Squawk_. I don't remember Dreamland right outside of Hiun City. We might as well get in there and start looking for that next hero guy Meta Knight was talking about, _Squawk_."

They both started for the city, but before either of them had entered, there was a loud "Halt!" from behind. They both turned around and saw a grey form with two white bandage like objects coming out of its back. It also had one red eye in the middle of its head.

"D-Dusclops. What are you doing here, _S-Squawk_?" Chatot stuttered.

"Lord Darkrai wants you and your red friend eliminated. I'm here on his behalf. He didn't think you were worth his lordships' time." Dusclops said in a monotone voice.

"We'll show you, _Squawk_! We'll send you back to that overstuffed, stuck-up dummy. You can say "Hi!" for us, _Squawk_!" Chatot threatened. " Be careful Mario. Dusclops is a powerful foe, _Squawk_. Normal physical attacks don't affect him. I'll take care of him, don't worry. I can change into something a bit more elemental." Chatot whispered to Mario.

Mario nodded and got ready to watch.

"_Squawk… _I'll take you down easy. I'll just change to-" Chatot began.

"Not so fast." Dusclops released a beam from his red eye. The beam hit Chatot and Chatot dropped to the ground, asleep.

Mario gaped in astonishment.

"Ha! His lordship wanted Chatot alive, but _you_ he couldn't care less about. Now that the bird's out of the way, this will be too easy." Dusclops laughed.

Mario got out his hammer and started running at Dusclops, but Dusclops just stood there. Mario took the swing and… went right through him.

"As your friend said, I am immune to physical attacks. If that's all you've got, then this _will_ be too easy. SHADOW PUNCH!" Dusclops wound up and hit Mario with all of his strength. Mario flew backwards and landed on the ground. He struggled upwards and tried to jump on Dusclops, but to no avail.

"Good-bye Mario. This is your end. HYPER BEA-" a bright light gathered in front of Dusclop's one eye just like when Tyranitar had unleashed that devastating attack. But before he fired, a beam shot from behind Mario and hit Dusclops straight in the face.

"AUUUGH. My eye! It burns!" Dusclops yelled.

Suddenly, a yellow sort of fox with two tails ran in to the scene from behind Mario.

"You again? I'll get rid of you first and then Mario. His lordship will be very pleased with me." Dusclops spat at the newcomer. "SHADOW BALL!"

A dark ball came out of Dusclops' eye and headed straight for the fox.

Without speaking, the fox took out a mirror like object and reflected the Shadow Ball. It went straight back to Dusclops and hit him right in the eye. There was an explosion, and when the smoke cleared, Dusclops was no longer there.

Mario walked over to the fox "Allo. It's-a me, Mario."

"Hey, nice to meet you Mario. My name's Miles, but you can call me Tails. And don't worry about thanking me; it was my pleasure taking care of that goon. Darkrai and his minions have been hanging around this area lately. I'm one of the only ones to stand up to that bully." Tails shook his hand.

Suddenly, Mario remembered Chatot and looked around for him. He saw Chatot lying on the ground a little ways away. Mario ran over and kneeled down, Tails followed him.

"ZZZZZZZZZ" Chatot was in the real "Dreamland".

"Is he a friend of yours? Don't worry I know how to wake him up." Tails pulled out another contraption and pushed a button on it. There was a loud BOOM sound and Chatot popped awake.

"Wh-where am I? Huh? Where's Dusclops? Who's this fox? When's lunch?" Chatot chattered.

"Well your friend certainly knows how to ask questions Mario. I'm Tails. What's your name little guy?" Tails laughed.

"My name is Chatot and I am not a little guy, _SQUAWK_! I'll show you. Just let me change to something big and then we'll see who's the little guy _Squawk_." Chatot squawked in indignation.

"Whoa, settle down, I was just talking. No need for violence. Now, why was one of Darkrai's minions attacking you? Did you get on his nerves somehow? What happened?" Tails asked.

Mario was about to answer when Chatot interrupted.

"None of your business fox boy, _Squawk_. Why don't you just move along and we can get back to our business. C'mon Mario, let's hurry up and find that blue hedgehog " Chatot said scathingly.

"Blue hedgehog? That sounds a lot like Sonic. That's a bit of a coincidence because I'm looking for him too. Why are you looking for Sonic?" Tails asked, surprised.

Chatot was about to make another sharp reply when Mario put his hand on his wing and shook his head.

"Hey, I can leave. I know when I'm not wanted, well… most of the time. I just thought it would be better if we searched for Sonic together, but I guess that's not going to happen. See you Mario, it was nice meeting you." Tails started walking off.

Mario stared at Chatot.

"What? Are you saying I'm in the wrong here? He's the one who should apologize. _Squawk_. What's that? Saved us? You mean, you didn't defeat Dusclops, he did? Are you sure? Well, I guess that changes some things." Chatot contemplated. " Hey, hey you. Fox boy, come back here."

Tails walked back. "What? You decided you want me now? Or do you just want to harass me some more?"

"Sorry about that, _Squawk_. I was a little hasty there. Just a little suspicious, that's all. Anyway, you said you know the guy we're looking for, _Squawk_." Chatot said.

"Yah, I know him. Sonic's my best friend. I've been looking for him ever since we got separated a couple days ago. I've been looking around this area recently, but there have been a lot of goons out like the one we just met, attacking on sight. Well, attacking me anyway. I know how to deal with them though." Tails said.

"So you can help us find this Sonic guy, _Squawk_?" Chatot asked.

"Sure, and I'm pretty sure he's in that city over there. I've heard rumors of a blue blur racing around the city. I'm sure that it's Sonic. Why are you looking for him anyway?" Tails said as they started towards the city.

"It's a long story, _Squawk_. It all started two days ago…" Chatot started explaining everything that had happened so far.

After the long story…

"So, how did you guys get thrown into Dreamland again?" Tails asked.

"When we talked it over with Meta Knight, it seemed that both me and Mario felt a huge tremor and then there was a bright flash of light, _Squawk_, and suddenly, we ended up here." Chatot said.

Tails thought for a moment. "Y'know, that sounds a lot like what happened to me and Sonic. We were facing off against a couple bad guys, when the ground shook and there was a great light. After that, I found myself in the middle of a forest, just off the side of that city. Sonic must have ended up somewhere around nearby. I've been searching ever since."

"So, one of the heroes we're looking for is in Hiun City. Well let's get a move on and start searching, _Squawk_." Chatot took off ahead of them.

Mario and Tails ran after him into Hiun City.


	8. Ch 1 Pt 5: A Different Point Of View

_Chapter 1 Part 5_

_**A Different Point Of View**_

In a dark place in a dark castle in a dark room…

"Heh, you're in big trouble now King DeDeDe. Bet the boss isn't too happy about your failure." Laughed a round man in a red suit.

"Hey, d-don't say that. I'm sure he'll give me another shot. You're just trying to scare me Eggman." King DeDeDe said with fake confidence.

"For once, I don't think Eggman's talking baloney. I'm sure he called us here to make an example of you. Don't know why he needed the rest of us here though, I have some vermin to take care of in my realm." Muttered a dark figure.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light.

"Talking amongst yourselves like a bunch of nervous penguins at a dance that has no music, hmm?" said a sadistic voice.

Immediately King DeDeDe, Eggman, and a few other figures got into a tight line.

King DeDeDe stepped forward. "Here at your request boss. What can we do to serve you?"

"I'll deal with you first then." A bolt of energy suddenly came from above and hit King DeDeDe.

"AAAAAUGH!… ou-ouch, that hurt." King DeDeDe winced.

"Your bumbling minions not only ruined my factory, but you also failed in retrieving the book I wanted you to get, and you even let the heroes get away. I do not have room in my group of henchmen for idiots and failures. You are fired." the voice said calmly and with that, a giant flame came down from above and swallowed up King DeDeDe.

With a cry of agony, King DeDeDe was consumed by the flaming orb, then with a huge explosion... the King was gone.

"Let this be an example to the rest of you. Failure is not tolerated, and shall be dealt with harshly. Now get back to your areas. Darkrai, I trust you will do better than that idiotic fool we shall no longer speak of," came the voice smoothly.

"You can count on me my lord." Darkrai bowed.

"Good. Then with that, the 'pleaser of crowds' shall leave you all to your work." The voice said.

"Whew, I think he's gone. The boss is really intense. Did you see what he did to King DeDeDe? He didn't even break a sweat!" Chattered Eggman.

"Oh, shut your mouth Eggman. Go and get to work you babbling fool, like the boss told you." Said Darkrai.

A tall armor clad figure with flaming red hair stepped forward. "Who died and made you deputy, big shot! Hope you don't try bossing _me_ around, or you'll get something stuck in your head, like my fist."

"Oooh your threats scare me so much. I'm trembling in my skin. Why don't you c'mere and walk the talk big guy."

"Oh yeah? Maybe I will. You think you're all tough don't you. Maybe a fist in the head would be good for you!" Sneered the person.

"You guys bicker like children. Honestly, how immature can you be. Your lives are easy. Do exactly as the boss says, and ignore all else. Do you really need to fight each other like this?" Said a short, masked figure in a green cap.

"Now don't you go bossing me around shrimp! Don't make me come over there and punch your face in." the tall man seethed.

"Oh sue me. So I want to obey the boss. What's the big deal? You gonna punch anyone who speaks against you? Is that all you can think about? There's more to life than violence." Said the masked figure.

"So mister pacifist wants to be the boss' pet eh? Fine, go and be a good little boy. See if I care. I'm going back to my realm to check up on things." The mysterious person then turned around and abruptly left.

The masked one looked down. "Tease me for wanting to obey the boss eh? Just cause I'm smarter than all these buffoons. They're starting to annoy me. Better go check up on my own realm, see if Mr. Gets-foiled-all-the-time-by-the-red-guy-with-the-moustache needs any scolding." Then the masked figure walked off.

Darkrai stared after him. "I better go to my world as well. Mario and Chatot are probably already there. I have to make sure the traps I set are foolproof." Then, Darkrai too disappeared.

* * *

Back in the outskirts of Hiun City...

Darkrai appeared in a dark clearing in the forest. "Duskull!" he summoned.

A small Pokemon who had a skull face and an image of crossbones on its back appeared.

"Y-yes my master? What is thy bidding?" Duskull said in a scarred voice.

"Have all the patrols come back yet? What are their reports?"

"Nothing sir, but one of the patrols has not returned. It's Dusclops. He has not come back from the edge of Dreamland. He was due an hour ago my lord."

"That is concerning. Dusclops is one of my most trusted Pokemon. Hmmm… Send two search parties. Tell one to search for Dusclops and the other to look for Mario and Chatot. Tell them to report back before dawn." Darkrai ordered.

"Consider it done, my master." Duskull bowed and then vanished.

"What if those meddlers have already gotten here? I don't want to end up like King DeDeDe. They are more powerful then I had first anticipated. That Chatot is especially dangerous. I need to think of a way to get rid of him without fighting him directly. Hmmm." Darkrai mused as he walked off deeper into the forest.

"Wait. Maybe if I got _him_ to befriend them and then betray them, I wouldn't even have to do anything. Yes! Ingenious - if I do say so myself. I'll summon him now." Darkrai snapped his fingers.

The air chilled and the flowers wilted. Dakrai turned around to find who he was looking for in the shadow of a gigantic tree.

"_I am here._" The thing said in a voice, if you could call it that, which could freeze your blood.

"My humble servant, I am in need of your help once more. You are probably the only one that can defeat my foes. I want you to join them, and then, when the time is right, attack and get rid of them once and for all." Darkrai instructed.

"_I shall do as you wish Darkrai. Farewell._" The dark presence faded and the air seemed lighter.

"With him on the job, they're finished. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!"


	9. Ch 2 Pt 1: Downtown Madness

_Chapter 2 Part 1_

_**Down Town Madness**_

"Aaah back home, finally." Chatot sighed as he stared around the city.

It was immense. The skyscrapers were even bigger up close. The streets were covered with both cars and people. Flashing signs on buildings lit up the city like a giant light bulb. The tallest building in the center of the city looked like it was touching the sky.

As Mario tried to look everywhere at once, Tails continued ahead of them and called back. "Follow me, I have a place to show you guys."

Both Mario and Chatot looked at each other and then started after Tails. As they followed him through the city, the sunlit sky slowly darkened to a blue and black canopy. Tails led them all the way to the other side of the huge metropolis. Mario could see a dark forest ahead. But Tails didn't lead them into the forest. He led them to a small building with a garage door. He pulled out a controller with several buttons on it. He pressed the green side of a button that was half red and half green. The garage door opened and they walked inside.

This place was more high-tech than the city itself. There was clutter everywhere, from random machine parts to kitchen utensils. Mario saw a door half open and came into the main part of the house. All the doors were automatic and the hallways had moving floors. The TV covered the entire wall on one side of the living room, while another wall was covered in pictures of Tails and many other people.

"Welcome to my makeshift home. Sorry it looks so messy, but it's the most I could do in such a short time." Tails apologized.

Chatot gawked, amazed. "Just how long did you say you've been here again _Squawk_?"

"Oh-a couple days give or take a few hours." Tails answered.

"_Squawk_! How do you manage to carry all this with you?"

"Oh no. Most of the stuff here I built from some spare parts I found around the city. Some of it's mine, like all those pictures over there. Those are all pictures of my adventures. I keep them around as souvenirs, you know?" Tails explained.

"You must be a heck of a mechanic to be able to build this in two days, _Squawk_." Chatot said in admiration.

"Thanks Chatot, but I didn't bring you here just to look at my place. C'mere." Tails motioned for them to follow and then went into a room that was partly hidden by a stack of boxes.

When Mario and Chatot entered the room, they had to let their eyes adjust to the gloom. When they could see properly, they saw Tails sitting at a desk with a computer on it. They walked over and looked at the computer screen.

"This is a tracking device I built. It tracks any sonic disturbance within a large area. I've been using this to try and track down Sonic. In case you don't know, Sonic runs at the speed of sound, so whenever he runs…he does that a lot…anyway, whenever he runs, I can see it on this monitor." Tails explained. "I'm sure he is still in the city because there have been multiple sonic disturbances recently, and they haven't gone anywhere near the boundaries of this computers sensor relay. I've come close a few times, but I could never quite catch him."

Chatot nodded. "So how can we help, _Squawk_?"

"Well, this will be a lot easier now that it's not just me. I can check these monitors looking for Sonic. If I see something, you can go check it out while I keep tracking it. We can keep in touch using this." Tails held out a walkie-talkie. He gave it to Mario.

"So now we just wait for Sonic to appear right?" Chatot asked.

"Right." Tails replied.

Suddenly there was a beeping sound and a red blip appeared on the computer. Without a word, Mario and Chato dashed out into the street and started running to where the blip was.

"Come in, this is Tails, do you read me, over?" came a voice from the walkie-talkie.

"Loud and clear, _Squawk_!" Chatot replied, holding the walkie-talkie in his talons.

"The sonic disturbance is moving towards you. I'll direct you to it, just keep running forward and you might cut it off." Tails instructed.

"Right-o." Chatot said as he and Mario continued running down the busy street.

They kept running until they came to a huge freeway. They looked around but they couldn't see anyone. There weren't even any people or cars.

"Tails, is this the spot, _Squawk_?"

"Yup, just stay right there and he should be passing by in 5… 4… 3… 2… Here he comes!"

They heard a sound in the distance that was quickly getting louder. Suddenly, they saw a yellow mouse looking Pokemon with a lightning bolt tail in the middle of the road. It was staring down the street at a blue blur that was rapidly approaching.

Mario started for the Pokemon, but it was too late. The blue blur rushed past with a great WOOSH. The little Pokemon was thrown aside by the aftermath of Sonic. Mario caught it as Sonic ran into the distance.

The Pokemon opened its eyes and looked up at Mario. "Thank you for catching me sir. I'm eternally grateful."

Mario smiled and put the Pokemon down.

"My name is Pikachu,. It is pleasant to meet you." Pikachu bowed graciously.

"Its-a me, Mario." Mario said.

"And my name's Chatot. I know this is a bit sudden, _Squawk_, what were you doing in the middle of that road?" Chatot asked.

"I was just crossing when I heard this sound and all of a sudden, I'm thrown into the air by a gust of wind. I was scared. But enough about me, I haven't seen you folks around before. Are you new in town? Whatcha doing here?" Pikachu questioned.

"We're looking for someone named Sonic ,_Squawk_. We need to talk to him about something. He was the guy who just ran past, I think."

"You wanna find that guy? Don't know why you would want to do that, but maybe I can help ya."

Chatot was about to disagree when Pikachu made one of those faces that makes you want to say "Awwwww".

"Awwwwww." Chatot cooed.

See what I mean.

"Fine, _Squawk_, you can help us." Chatot said.

"Yay! This'll be fun. Where should we go first." Pikachu cheered.

"We have to follow the direction that Tails tells us to go to on this walkie-talkie, _Squawk_." Chatot showed Pikachu the device.

"Ooh, can I hold it. I promise to take good care of it, and I'll tell you where he wants us to go. Pleeeeeeeease."

Chatot looked at Mario, and Mario nodded. Chatot handed over the walkie-talkie.

"Yay! Okay let's get going. Hey, Tails guy, my name's Pikachu, nice to talk to you. Where should we go?" Pikachu yelled into the walkie-talkie.

"No need to yell, I can hear you just fine. Nice to talk to you too Pikachu. As for where you should go, it looks like Sonic is running around the city perimeter. If you can just get to the edge of the city, he'll bump right into you." Tails instructed.

"Okee Dokee. C'mon guys, the shortest way to the city perimeter is this way." As Pikachu sped off, Mario and Chatot followed him.

In the distance, on top of a tall building, was Duskull watching them run off.

"Better tell the boss it's going according to plan." He murmured and then disappeared.


	10. Ch 2 Pt 2: Hoodwinked

_Chapter 2 Part 2_

_**Hoodwinked**_

"Hurry, hurry. We'll never catch this Sonic guy if you two carry on at this pace." Pikachu urged playfully.

"Alright, we're hurrying, we're hurrying. Young blighter, Squawk." Chatot groaned.

Mario laughed silently as they continued to the city perimeter. They came around a corner and Mario could see a forest ahead.

Mario turned around and pointed towards the city boundaries.

"What's up Mario, Squawk? What's over there?" Chatot asked, confused.

Pikachu looked past Mario. "Yeah, there's just more city over there; nothing special."

Mario looked back in surprise. The forest had disappeared. In its place, there was even more expanse of city.

"Is the sun getting to you Mario? Going a bit cuckoo in the head huh? It happens, usually due to exhaustion." Pikachu said as he walked on.

Mario shook his head to clear it. Was the forest he saw really just imaginary? Oh well, they must be close to the edge now.

As they kept walking, Pikachu had a silent sigh of relief. "That… was close."

* * *

They were still walking through the endless metropolis when the walkie-talkie Pikachu was holding suddenly spoke.

"Guys, what are you doing? You passed the perimeter of the city a while ago. You're well out into the forest of Dark-" But Tails was cut off with a fizzle and a crack.

Smoke was coming from the walkie-talkie that was now cut in half and lying on the ground, with an innocent looking Pikachu staring down at it.

"Woops, sorry about that. I don't know what happened there, accidentally broke our only means of communication. Oh well, shall we continue?"

"Wait a minute, Squawk, for one thing, I don't think it's possible to tear a walkie-talkie in half on accident, Squawk, and for a second, I saw what happened. The move you used to destroy that device looked a lot like Night Slash, Squawk. As far as I know, Pikachu cannot use Night Slash. Who are you?" Chatot said suspiciously, eyes narrowed at the guilty Pokemon.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I never used Night Slash and I never broke the walkie-talkie, but if you don't believe me, Mario and I can continue without you. C'mon Mario." Pikachu then grabbed Mario and pulled him along.

Mario looked back at Chatot as the bird looked after them for a moment, then turned around and flew off.

* * *

"Here we are. Took us a while, but we're finally here." Pikachu said proudly.

They had finally reached the edge of the city. The dark forest in front of them stretched on endlessly.

"Now we can sit here and wait for this Sonic dude." Pikachu said as he sat down.

Mario stared into the forest in suspicion. He did not like being near it. It gave off the essence of a dark and evil place of secrets. Suddenly, Mario could see something walking out of the forest. It was a tall dark being with a completely black body. It had a white fog substance coming off the top of its head that covered one of its bright blue eyes.

Behind it came many more ghastly looking beings that gave off a feeling of dread and fear. The tall black one came forward with his arms spread wide.

"Greetings Mario, it is good to finally meet you. But where is the other I have heard of, this Chatot? Am I to believe you came alone? Hah, I thought this would be a challenge, but it seems I was mistaken. Oh, well. My master wants you eliminated. I am here to fulfill his request."

Mario was worried. Darkrai alone he probably could've taken care of, along with Pikachu, but the full force of his armada? That was a bit much for him. He would just have to fight to the fullest and hope for the best.

"I thank you, my faithful servant, for bringing him this far. You're very good at your job, that's for sure."

"You are welcome my master. After we have dealt with this one, I will go get the bird and bring him to you." Came a dark voice from behind Mario.

Mario turned around but Pikachu was no longer there. In his place was a fox like creature that had a bright red ponytail coming off the top of it's head. It stood on its hind legs and had red claws. Its slitted eyes glowed red. Looking past him, Mario could no longer see the city. He just saw an endless expanse of forest.

"Let me introduce you, Mario, to Zoroark, the Master of Illusions. He can make himself appear to be a different Pokemon or even alter his surroundings," Darkrai explained. " That is how he led you here. Using Pikachu as a disguise, he led you on and on through an illusional city that was actually this forest. Now, prepare to meet your doom."

Darkrai advanced upon Mario with Zoroark bringing up the rear. Things weren't looking good. Mario would have to be lucky to win this one. Really lucky. Mario got out his hammer and leapt for Darkrai.

Quick as lightning, Zoroark dashed underneath Mario and leapt up, sending the red plumber high into the sky. Zoroark leapt up after him and struck him down with his sharp claws. Mario fell plummeting to the ground. Thinking quick, he flipped in the air and landed on his feet. He looked up to where Zoroark was and leapt up to hit him with his hammer. Direct… hit? His hammer passed through the image of Zoroark that was now fading. Looking down, he spotted the real Zoroark laughing at him.

"Hahaha, you're pathetic. I don't know why m'lord was so worried about you, you're as harmless as a flea."

Mario seethed with rage. The only one whoever got away with insulting him was Bowser when he was running away from him in his hover car.

Still in the air, Mario threw his hammer straight down at the fiendish fox. It struck him straight on the nose. Mario spun in the air and stomped upon Zoroark's head. The fox fell to the ground, dazed. Mario picked up his hammer and swung back for the finishing blow. There was a sudden pain in Mario's back and he was blown forward, over Zoroark.

"You have forgotten Mario, you are not facing just Zoroark, you are also facing me and my army. All of them powerful and individually phenomenal in their own way. It would be hard for an army of your own to defeat them, but you alone? You are overestimating your skills my dear Mario." Darkrai mocked.

Mario struggled upward, but Zoroark put a foot on his back to restrain him. The evil fox looked back at Darkrai. Darkrai nodded.

"Finish him."

Zoroark grinned and raised his claws. He prepared his finishing blow. Mario closed his eyes.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Mario opened his eyes and looked around. All of Darkrai's minions were startled. Zoroark jumped off of Mario and looked around. All of a sudden, the ground underneath Zoroark gave way, and he fell with a cry.

"Yaaaaaauuuugh." His scream faded into the dark abyss.

Darkrai looked down the hole nervously. There was a quietness and then…

"Yaaaaaauuuugh." Zoroark flew out of the hole and into the sky, far in the distance. Out of the hole came a giant steel snake-like creature. There was a whirring sound from above and then a high tech looking helicopter came down. Tails waved from the cockpit.

"Me and Steelix came to help." He yelled down.

"A Steelix? I didn't know you had one of these for a friend Mario. Unless… This must be Chatot, or should I say Ditto. Haha, you're a bit late. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to execute the trap I had laid for you. Not even the great Ditto can help your friend now. Time to get you back for those things you said back before all this mess." Darkrai raised his hand.

"Dark Void!" He yelled.

A purple ball formed in his hand. He threw it at Steelix. The big Pokemon groaned and then hit the ground, snoring.

"Oh on! Not again." Tails groaned.

"And now for you!" Darkrai jumped up and smacked the helicopter out of the sky.

"Mayday, mayday. Huston, we have a problem. Going down. Auuuuuuuugh."

_BOOM_

The helicopter crashed into the ground with a fiery explosion. Mario stared, astonished, as Darkrai descended slowly from the sky.

"I defeated both of your friends with one hit. I am unbeatable. No one can stop me, not even you. Prepare to die."

_To be continued…_

* * *

_**Sorry this one took so long. My internet broke down and I wasn't able to upload for a while. Anyway, I hope you like my story so far, and don't forget to review.**_

_**Chaos 7**_


	11. Ch 2 Pt 3: Goings On In The Dark Forest

_Chapter 2 Part 3_

**_Goings On In The Dark Forest_**

_The helicopter crashed into the ground with a fiery explosion. Mario stared, astonished, as Darkrai descended slowly from the sky._

_"I defeated both of your friends with one hit. I am unbeatable. No one can stop me, not even you. Prepare to die."_

But before Darkrai could advance, there was a whirring sound. In the distance, Mario could see a dust cloud coming towards them. Then...he could hear a voice.

"TAIIILS!" A blue hedgehog ran in and stopped in the clearing. He pointed at Darkrai.

"I saw what you did to Tails. You think you can knock down a helicopter from the sky without anyone seeing you! You'll pay for that! And you..." At this, he pointed at Mario. "You against this guy?"

Mario nodded.

"You and me, we are gonna cause some serious carnage to this group of baddies. Ya ready?" He asked.

Mario nodded.

The hedgehog waltzed up beside him and stretched his legs. "I'll take care of all those baddies behind him, you take care of the big guy. I'll join you quick as I can. Ready? Alrighty then. Oh, and by the way, my name's Sonic."

Mario looked at him in surprise, but he had already sped off into the enemy ranks. Mario ran at Darkrai. Darkrai glided to the side but Mario was ready. He sidestepped and whacked Darkrai full on with his hammer. Darkrai recoiled and came back boiling.

"Okay, that's it, now I'm serious."

Darkrai grabbed the hammer and threw it to the edge of the clearing. Darkrai then directed a punch at Mario but he dodged. Again and again, punch, punch, dodge, dodge. Just when Mario was getting too tired to evade any longer, Sonic popped up beside him.

"All done, now, let's take care of this bozo." He winked and, super fast, ran behind Darkrai and kicked him. Darkrai turned around to attack Sonic, but he was already gone. Sonic appeared beside Mario once again, holding his hammer.

"Thought you might need this." He tossed it to Mario and then ran headfirst into Darkrai.

Mario, seeing that Darkrai was winded, ran and smacked him rapidly with his hammer in succession.

"Very good, but you haven't won yet, I've still got one trick up my sleeve." Darkrai wheezed.

Sonic stepped back. "Bring it." He taunted with a smirk.

Darkrai looked at Sonic. "You first" He snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the giant Steelix that had been lying motionless stirred. Mario saw that it was getting up. He was just about to run over to it when Sonic stopped him.

"I don't think you should go near that thing, it looks like it's in a bad mood."

Mario looked back at Steelix. It had opened up its eyes but the eyes looked strange. They were red instead of white. It glared at Mario and then swung its tail around. Mario jumped to the side and dodged it by the skin of his teeth.

Darkrai laughed. "As you can see, your friend has turned against you. Witness the power of my Hypnosis attack. Hahahaha, are you willing to hurt your _friend_, Mario?"

Sonic stared. "If that thing's your friend, you must have some pretty nasty enemies. Well a fight's a fight. I say we ignore big guy over there and go after Darkrai. After all, he's the one controlling Steelix."

Mario nodded in agreement. They turned to Darkrai, but he was no longer there.

Sonic made a face. "He must have run off into the forest. Don't worry, I'll find him. You take care of Steelix. I'll be as fast as I can. See ya." Sonic sped off into the dark trees.

Mario turned to Steelix. He just had to keep him busy, he didn't have to defeat him, or even fight him. Mario waited for the giant steel snake to make a move. The beast opened its mouth and released hot flames. Mario ran for his life as the flames chased him around the clearing. Mario ran towards the edge of the clearing in an attempt to get out of range.

Suddenly the fire stopped. Mario turned around but Steelix was no longer there. Instead, there was a big hole. Mario stared around, trying to anticipate where Steelix would pop up. Those were the longest moments of Mario's life. He walked around, attempting to sense where his friend would pop out. All of a sudden, the ground beneath Mario trembled and Mario was flung into the air by Steelix. He landed face first into the ground. Struggling to stand, Mario was hit in the back by Steelix's firm tail. Pinned against a tree, Mario was trying to get free, as Steelix prepared to fire his flames. Was this the end?

* * *

Meanwhile, in the dank arboreal verdance, Sonic was confronting Darkrai.

"Got a bone to pick with you. Nobody hurts _my_ friends and gets away with it." Sonic threatened.

"Oooh, I'm soooooo scared. I hurt and annihilate who I want, when I want, and no one has _ever_ stopped me, and no one ever will." Darkrai retorted.

"We'll see about that." Sonic started running circles around Darkrai. The dark figure looked right and left but could never get an exact point of where the hedgehog was. Finally, he just emitted a dark pulse that went all over. Sonic was hit and tripped into a tree.

Dazed, he got up but was quickly knocked down again by Darkrai's merciless fist. A bit battered, Sonic rolled up into a ball and bowled into Darkai. He followed up with several kicks to Darkrai's stomach. Darkrai flew backward into a tree and crumpled to the ground.

Sonic looked down at him. "Any last words."

Darkrai looked up, still smiling. "Hmph, sure. We will meet _again_, I hope. And when we meet again, I will make you suffer. For now, farewell."

Darkrai disappeared in a flash. Sonic looked around, shrugged, then ran back to Mario.

* * *

Back in the clearing, Mario was awaiting his doom. But it never came. The Steelix's eyes cleared and then it looked around, free of it's hypnosis. It spotted Mario, injured and singed.

"Hey Mario, what happened to you?" He asked.

Mario smiled and shook his head.

Sonic arrived and went straight to the burning helicopter.

"Tails, you in there?" Sonic yelled, with a look of panic.

"U-up here." Said a weak voice from above.

Sonic looked up and saw Tails hanging from a tree.

"The eject button still has a few kinks to fix." Tails joked.

Sonic sighed. "Oh Tails."

* * *

Steelix was back to being Chatot and the group had just finished explaining to Sonic what had happened so far in their journey.

"Huh, so you need some people for your heroic group, eh? Okay, sounds like fun, count me in." Sonic winked.

Mario sighed in relief. At least they wouldn't have to try and persuade him.

"So, where we headed next?" Sonic asked.

Chatot and Mario stared blankly at each other. They didn't know. Would they have to go all the way back to Meta Knight to ask where the next hero was?

"Y-you see, _Squawk_, uh, we don't know. Meta Knight, didn't tell us where to go after we found you. I'm afraid we'll have to go back and ask him, _Squawk_." Chatot said.

"No problem. I'll ask him for ya. Just tell me where to go and I'll be there and back before you know it." Sonic reassured.

The two agreed and told him where to go. Sonic nodded and then took off.

Before anyone could start a new conversation, Sonic was back!

"Hey I'm back! Sorry I took so long, but I had some trouble finding the secret cave. Anyway, I'll give you his exact words."

"Congratulations, Mario and Chatot, on finding the third hero. I presume you want to find the next one as quickly as possible. Well, if your done in Hiun City, then you can head for Sonic's dimension, which happens to be quite close to Hiun City. It is called Mobius. I am fairly sure one of the heroes is there. Sonic can guide you there and beyond. Good luck."

Sonic finished quoting.

Tails spoke up. "Are you telling me that all this time, I could've been in Mobius. Wow, that's depressing."

"Well, are we gonna leave or are we gonna stay and chat all day. Let's get going."

"I'll come along too, just for a bit." Tails said.

And so they set off for the next stage of their adventure...


	12. Ch 2 Pt 4: Another One Bites The Dust

_Chapter 2 Part 4_

_**Another One Bites The Dust**_

Back in the dark area, in a dark castle, in a dark room…

"You have come back Darkrai. I trust you have good news." murmured the ever mysterious being.

"Er- hmmm. Good news. Ummmm… I escaped unharmed?" Darkrai stuttered.

"Idiot! That blasted plumber would have done better getting rid of you there. It would have saved me the trouble." The voice raged.

"P-please master, give me another chance. I will not fail you again." Darkrai pleaded.

"Silence! You are as useful to me as an ice cream cone is to a pancake. As I have said before, I have no room for imbeciles in my arsenal of tools. You really expect me to keep someone like you around. I thought you would be different from King DeDeDe, but apparently I was mistaken."

Like before, a sudden ball of flame flew down from above and struck Darkrai. With a cry of pain, he was engulfed and annihilated.

"Eggman!"

"Y-yes sir?" Eggman stood to attention.

"Those pests are headed for your area. I trust you will not fail me..."

"Fear not boss. I'll get'im. Of that you can be sure." Eggman bowed.

"Good, the rest of you, make sure your sectors are well prepared just in case _he_ fails. Now, begone!"

The room quickly emptied. When it was clear of any minions, the voice spoke.

"Well? What is your report Doopliss?"

There was silence and then, a white figure materialized from the gloom.

"Apart from your King DeDeDe and Darkrai mishaps, everything is going according to schedule. The two seeds you planted have shown no sign of malfunction. Progress on the Floro Factory has been picked up by Eggman and his robots. It would have been better to build it in Dreamland, but we will just have to cope."

"Good, anything else?"

"Yes your Excellence. Your men are still diligently searching for Meta Knight, but we have not found any clues so far as to where he is hiding. Also, I have noted a pattern in the meddlers actions."

"You have? I think I know what it is too, but enlighten me."

"Mario and his friends are looking for the rest of the heroes. They somehow know where each of these dimensions are, and are not fazed by them being mixed up. I have reason to believe that they are relying on Meta Knight for information on the heroes. I have produced a plan that I would like to ask your permission to execute."

"Go ahead."

"It is very simple. And, it's foolproof. If Eggman beats them, they will be captured and we can interrogate them. If Eggman fails, they will likely find the next hero for their group. After this, they will most likely ask Meta Knight where the next dimension and hence, where their next friend is. We can track Meta Knight through _them_."

"Very good. You have helped me considerably, my loyal spy. Keep it up. You have permission to execute the plan. Make sure it does not fail."

"Yes, your will is my command." Doopliss disappeared to prepare.

"Mhmm, he is very useful to me. I underestimated him. I thought he was some jokester in a white sheet, but apparently, Doopliss is an experienced doppelganger. It was a stroke of luck to stumble upon him." The voice remembered. "Pitiful creature, when I discovered him, I knew immediately that he could not fulfill his true potential just acting in a play. No, he was born for evil. He's not like these other fools. But even he is under my manipulation and control. None of them know my true plan, except one. Speaking of which."

The mysterious figure snapped his fingers. There was a screech and a blue streak dashed to the voice. lightening fast, from somewhere in the distance.

"Has the prisoner talked yet?" The voice asked.

A grunt of reply.

"Very well. If she will not talk, then there is no point in keeping her. Dispose of the girl, and make sure no one finds her."

Another grunt of reply. The blue being was about to take off when the voice stopped it.

"Ah, wait. I have something else to ask. My good servant Doopliss is working on a project to capture the meddlers. I want you to keep on watching the heroes like you have. Your information has been most pleasing to me. When the heroes get here, I will know their every move. I will finally have my revenge on Mario and the rest of his stupid friends. After I'm done with him, I'll alter the rest of the dimensions to my liking. I will rule with an iron fist, and you will be my second in command. I will have a limitless army, and I will forever rule this meaningless universe. And that is when I will help you find your sister. You may go."

The blue being nodded and streaked off into the world.

"It's all coming together. Hurry up Mario, I can hardly wait. Mhuahahahahahahahahahahahaha."

* * *

_Meanwhile in the desert wilds of Mobius…_

"So let me get this straight. This Eggman guy told you that your friend, (Sonic - right?) stole a thing called the Master Emerald, and broke it into several pieces. After he said that, Sonic tried to beat up Eggman even though he claimed to be a good guy. Before you could leap to Eggman's defense, there was a bright flash of light, then all the dimensions got messed up and you think it's because the Master Emerald was broken for too long." Kirby finished.

Knuckles nodded. "Right. This kind of mix up has never happened before. Then again, Sonic has never tried to destroy the Master Emerald before. Although Eggman also claimed that Sonic had tried stealing the pieces after it had been broken. I don't know what's come over Sonic. He had no reason to destroy and steal the Master Emerald."

"Do you have any real proof that Sonic destroyed it?" Kirby asked.

"Umm… That's… Uhhhh… I sort of only have Eggman's word." Knuckles said.

"And Eggman, before now, was always the bad guy?"

"That's correct."

"Then shouldn't you have at least a bit of suspicion about Eggman?"

"I d'unno, I usually take things for their face value, especially when it comes to the Master Emerald."

"What is this Master Emerald exactly?"

"It is a legendary jewel that keeps all worlds in perfect harmony and balance. It is also the ruler of the Chaos Emeralds."

"Ruler? You mean it's alive?"

"In some ways, yes. It has looked over the worlds and kept them in relative peace. Whenever trouble broke out, it was destroyed. This happened many times, but with the help of some friends, I have always managed to rebuild it. It has survived through countless generations, and has forever been guarded by someone. I have been guarding the Master Emerald for as long as I can remember."

"I see, and what are Chaos Emeralds."

"Chaos Emeralds contain a lot of power. One of them could level an entire city. They are wreathed in mystery. It is said that if all seven Chaos Emeralds are brought together, a miracle will happen. I know this is true because I have witnessed all seven being brought together multiple times. They give the holder an ultimate power, but every time all seven are brought together, they scatter again, waiting for the next person to find them."

Kirby frowned. "So Sonic's been your friend for a long time, but after one flimsy accusation, you turn against him and start working for Eggman? Doesn't that sound a bit weird to you?"

Knuckles pondered on this. "I guess you're right, but what should I do?"

"What should you do? You should talk with Sonic about it and see whether he really did steal the Master Emerald. You saved me from falling off that cliff, so I'll stick by you no matter what, with Eggman or against him. Just think about it." Kirby said.

Knuckles nodded and the two friends walked off to finish their patrol for Eggman.

* * *

_In Eggman's base…_

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant! Where has that bot gone. Lieutenant Rifter!" Eggman called.

"Here sir." said a robotic voice from behind Eggman.

"Ah there you are." Eggman said, turning around. "Report!"

The robot saluted. "Sir. Master Emerald is running at 120% and shows no sign of malfunction. The factory you ordered is 70% complete and is running smoothly. The burger you ordered however sir, has disappeared to 0%."

"0%? How can a burger suddenly disappear? Where is the delivery bot?"

"He has also disappeared sir."

"When I get a hold of him, I'll, I'll… send him to the scrap yard, melt him down, cool him, and use his spare parts for a pogo stick. Now, go find him!"

The Lieutenant jumped. "Y-yes sir, right away sir."

Eggman turned around to look at a robot sitting in front of a computer.

"Where are the heroes?"

"Steadily approaching sir. Cloaking device is working perfectly but there is a problem."

"Problem?"

"Sir. The patrol of Kirby and Knuckles is coming in late. The heroes will see them enter the base and give away our position."

"WHAT! Do something then! Prevent them from entering! Tell them to hurry up! Shoot'em down... I don't care. Just do something!" Eggman was having a fit.

"Yes sir. Hold on. Incoming transmission from Doopliss sir."

"Well, what's it say?"

"He requests entry sir. He has something important to tell you."

"Let him in then."

"Sir."

Doopliss appeared in the entrance of the room, shaking.

"Those elevators go really fast."

"Oh, grow up. What's your message?"

"Change of primary objective. We still want you to try and capture the heroes, but more importantly, should you fail you must prevent Sonic from running - even if it's for just a little while. I have a plan to catch Meta Knight, and I cannot execute it if Sonic is running back and forth between them before I can blink an eye."

"Hohohoho. You're a funny one. I will not fail. Eggman never… er… Eggman rarely ever fails."

Doopliss' eyes narrowed. "Looking at your record Eggman, the only time you ever succeeded was when you were working with Sonic. This is not a suggestion. This is an order straight from the boss. And trust me, you do not want to disappoint him."

Eggman made a face and then gave in. "Alright, alright, I'll go along with it. I don't like it though. I hate backup plans. Now, back to the problem about my late patrol." Eggman smiled. "Doopliss, my friend, I need a small favor."

_After some explaining…_

"Oh no. Can't do that I'm afraid. Not supposed to reveal myself to the heroes. They can't know I exist, especially Mario."

Eggman grinned. "They don't have to see you, you just have to see them. I'm sure with your abilities, you could easily disguise yourself."

Doopliss pondered on this. "I guess."

"It would really help me along with capturing those heroes."

"Well, if it's to capture those meddlers, then I guess it's alright. But your plan is really weird."

"Oh just go along with it, and don't forget to bring me back the plunder." Eggman waved as Doopliss left.

Eggman turned to the robot at the computer. "That, my friend, is an example of killing two birds with one stone."


	13. Ch 3 Pt 1: Mobius Ahoy

_Chapter 3 Part 1_

_**Mobius Ahoy**_

"So this is Mobius? Looks pretty barren to me, _Squawk._" Chatot observed.

"This is only a small part of Mobius. It's a world of its own." Tails said.

Tails looked harder at Chatot. "Can I ask you a question?"

Chatot looked back and nodded.

"Darkrai called you something weird when we were fighting him. You said you had transformed into something called a Steelix, but he called you Ditto. What is Ditto?"

"Oh that. It's nothing really, I'll just show you, _Squawk_." Chatot closed his eyes and started glowing. Chatot's shape changed and he stopped glowing. He now looked like a pink blob with small black eyes.

The small pink blob looked up at Tails. "This is my true form. It's called Ditto. I just usually turn into Chatot so people who can't understand Pokemon chatter can understand me. Now, if you don't mind."

Ditto started glowing again and transformed back into Chatot. "_Squawk_!"

Tails' eyes widened. "I see. So you can transform into anything?"

"No, _Squawk_, just Pokemon that I've seen. That's it."

"Not meaning to interrupt, but what's that over there." Sonic said, squinting into the distance.

They all looked. " I think it's a person." Tails said.

"He looks like he's in trouble, _Squawk_. See he's stumbling. Wait, he fell ove,r _Squawk_."

They all took off in the direction of the fallen person. When they reached him, they found that he was only a small boy.

"Does anybody have any water?" Sonic asked.

"No problem, I've got some water. I packed furiously for traveling in the wilderness." Tails pulled out a water bottle and poured some water into the boy's mouth. He coughed and suddenly sat up. He looked around and spoke.

"Where am I? Oh… Still in this desert. Well, thank you for helping me, who are you."

Chatot whispered to Mario. "Gets right to the point, doesn't he?"

Mario shrugged. After introducing themselves the boy stood up and looked at his watch, and a pretty fancy one at that.

Chatot whispered to Mario again. "That's a pretty watch for someone who's lost in the wilds. Come to think of it, that watch is the only thing on him that _is_ pretty."

Chatot was right. The boys shirt and pants both had rips in them. How long had this kid been lost?

The boy was done looking at his watch and seemed satisfied. It looked like he was about to go when he seemed to remember something.

"Do any of you happen to have a burger with extra mustard?" He asked.

They all looked at Tails.

"Oh alright, I was planning on saving it for later but I guess I can give it up. Just hold on a second." Tails turned around and knelt down.

Sonic looked over his shoulder. "How are you carrying all this stuff around, Tails?"

"Simple, with this." Tails held up a small glowing cube. "It can store anything. It's possible content has no limit."

Sonic looked confused. "How'd you manage that?"

"Well, you see, it's actually quite simple. I used a spacial distorter to equalate the colabtium of the time space around the cube. This resulted in a biocryogonal reaction which in turn increased the width and height without changing the diameter and outer look. The inside however, is altered greatly by this. Further more…"

"Alright, I get it. It just works. Yikes." Sonic said, dazed.

Tails pulled out a hamburger and gave it to the boy.

The boy grinned and ran away snickering. "If that didn't give Eggman's patrol enough time to get back to the base then nothing will."

Doopliss ran away laughing back to his master.

As the group of heroes watched the boy run away, Tails started walking again.

"What are we looking for anyway?" He asked.

Chatot answered. "We're looking for the hero that's rumored to be here. We'll just have to keep looking for him until we find him."

"I can make that easier." Both Sonic and Tails said at the same time.

"I have a gadget that can detect all life forms in the area."

"And I can run so fast that I can find things faster than it takes Darkrai's plans to fail."

Mario gave them a thumbs up, and they set to work.

* * *

After many false alarms, (apparently, cactus plants have some life force) Tails looked enthusiastically at the sensor he was holding.

"It's beeping again. Get ready for another cactus."

But this time it wasn't a cactus, it was… nothing.

"Huh, is that machine malfunctioning?" Sonic laughed.

"No I don't think so. It's detecting three life forms right in front of us. But all there is here is... nothing."

"So, if that machine is correct, _Squawk_, then that means if I fly forward, I should encounter some sort of-_Squawk_!"

Chatot stopped flying as if he had hit something. The bird fell down and hit the ground hard.

"_Sq-squawk_, what was that?" Said a dazed Chatot.

Tails walked up to where Chatot had fallen and knocked the air as if it were a door. They all heard a metallic clanking noise.

"It seems that there is an invisible building here." Tails observed.

"Who puts a random invisible building in the middle of the desert, _Squawk_?" Chatot asked angrily.

"I have a pretty good idea of who would do such a thing. Eggman." Sonic growled.

"Eggman? Who's that?"

"An evil scientist who is completely bonkers. I've fought him before. I bet he's the bad guy for this place. Tails, can you find a way in?"

"I'll try, meanwhile, you should go check out that." Tails said.

"Check out what, _Squawk_." Chatot looked around, confused.

"That." Tails pointed to some smoke columns in the distance. "I'll come get you when I find a way in."

They all agreed and set off. Getting closer to the smoke revealed that it came from some sort of factory. On the side of the factory was a large picture of a mask with openings for two eyes and a mouth. It was also half black and half white. Mario stared at the mask. He had seen that before, but where?

As Mario tried to remember, Chatot and Sonic were conversing.

"What do you think it is, _Squawk_?"

"Dunno, some kind of factory I guess."

"Wonder what it produces, _Squawk."_

"Yeah, only one way to find out, c'mon!"

Sonic rushed to the factory with Mario and Chatot trying, but failing, to keep up. At the factory, they found several robots going in and out of the factory carrying boxes. The boxes were loaded into flying vehicles, which then took off into the sky and disappeared.

"Those are Eggman's bots." Sonic commented.

"Wonder what's in the boxes." Chatot said.

Mario nodded in agreement.

"I say we go in there and figure out what they're manufacturing. You guys with me?" Sonic asked.

They both nodded, and they all started sneaking closer to the factory.

* * *

**IMPORTANT NOTICE**

**To all my readers,**

**You may have noticed from the title, or the little paragraph at the top of the first chapter, that I have had some trouble with this story. I explain most everything in the paragraph in chapter one, but i'll give a quick summary. I posted this story before in a different section, but it glitched and I could no longer upload stories. I made a new one and started again. **

**I managed to fix the glitch in my previous story and so I must delete this story. The reason is that it is illeagal on this site to have two of the same story uploaded, so I must delete one of them. I will continue to upload my story in the Mario section. It is called the Dimensional Twist, instead of The Dimensional Twist redone. I am sincerely sorry for any confusion, and hopefully, this will be the last of the mix ups and glitches. I will leave this story up for one more week and then delete it. I hope you are enjoying my story and I hope you keep reading.**

**Chaos 7**


	14. Ch 3 Pt 2: Attacked, Fallen On, and ect

_Chapter 3 Part 2_

_**Attacked, Fallen On, and Stupefied**_

"Man, looking for an invisible door is harder than I thought." Tails sighed shaking his head.

He had been around the invisible structure multiple times, but had had no luck in finding an entrance.

"If only I could see it, then maybe I would be able to find an opening." Tails wished.

"I could help you with that." Said someone behind Tails.

Tails turned around and gasped

_Meanwhile…_

"This factory is immense!" Sonic exclaimed.

Mario nodded in agreement.

Chatot nodded to one of the robots. "I say we ambush one of those robots and find out what's in the boxes they're carrying."

They all agreed on this and started sneaking even closer to the factory. Sonic made a motion for the other two to stop and they obeyed. Mario and Chatot watched as Sonic sneaked up behind one of the robots and tripped it. With a loud clank he kicked it in the head and the robot fizzed out. Sonic came back grinning, holding one of the boxes.

"Piece'a cake."

Chatot hit his head in exasperation. "Sonic, I think the piece of cake had a rock in it, _Squawk_."

Confused, Sonic looked to Mario. Mario just pointed behind Sonic. He turned around and gaped. Almost every robot at the entire factory was running at full tilt for their hiding place. Some robots had even abandoned their flying vehicles that shipped the boxes away.

Sonic turned back around. "Uh… Oops, guess they heard me take out the robot, uh, what now?"

"What now? I'll tell you what now, _Squawk_." Chatot said. "Now, we… RUN!"

Without another word, Chatot turned around and flew off back to Tails. Sonic and Mario looked at each other and took off after him. Sonic looked back. The robots were gaining and would soon catch up. With a wink at Mario, he grabbed the plumbers hand and sped ahead. They ripped by Chatot with the dust catapulting from his flying feet.

"_Squ-squawk_? H-hey don't leave me here with them. Wait for me!"

Chatot quickly changed into a bird with long legs, no wings, and two heads. With a tweet, the weird bird sped off after Sonic and Mario. The robots were quickly being left behind. At the head of the pack was the General in charge of the factory militia. He turned around and waved at the mob of metal.

"Halt, it is no good. We will not catch them at this rate. We will now head back to the factory and continue working. Besides, they are heading straight for Eggman's base, he will deal with them."

All the robots saluted in unison and turned around for the long trudge back to the factory. Farther along the desert, Chatot and Mario were sitting on the ground panting for their lives.

"Aw, come on, that was barely a light jog you guys." Sonic scoffed at the exhausted pair.

Chatot looked up angrily. "Yeah, easy for you to say. Lucky I've seen some fast Pokemon in my day, or else I'd have been a goner, _Squawk_. Leaving me behind like that? Honestly."

"Oh, don't get in a huff. You left us first, I was only returning the favour. We shouldn't be here bickering, we should be getting down to business. Why don't we take a look at what's in this box."

Sonic pulled out the brown cardboard box and sat down beside the other two. He ripped it open and stared blankly at the contents.

"You can make plants at a factory? That Eggman has definitely gone around the bend this time."

Chatot was as clueless as Sonic, but Mario stared at the items in the box with a knowing dread. Inside the opened box were two identical plants. They were green and had a straight stem. Branching off the top of the short stem were two identical leaves spreading in opposite directions.

Sonic and Chatot looked at Mario. "You know something, Mario? C'mon, tell us." Sonic said.

Chatot grumbled pessimistically. "He won't answer you, _Squawk_. The only things Mario can say are "It's-a me, Mario" and a bunch of random Italian. Darn your muted voice Mario! I wish there was someone here that could understand his gibberish, _Squawk_!"

Suddenly they all looked up at the sound of a boom in the sky. There was a blue streak that raced overhead and sped into the distance. Mario recognized it as the blue streak he had seen over and over during his journey.

"What was that?" Sonic asked.

Chatot shrugged. "How'm I supposed to know, _Squawk_. Barely even saw anything, just heard a big boom."

"That boom was probably that thing breaking the sound barrier. It _was_ travelling pretty fast."

Mario shushed both of them and listened upward. The other two listened with him. Gradually, they could hear a slight noise coming from above them. As it slowly got louder, they identified it as a scream. They looked up and saw something falling from the sky.

"Hey, what's that."

"I think it's something falling from the sky."

"I know that! I was asking what _is_ it."

"I d'unno, _Squawk_. Wait. Holy Arceus, that's a person "

They all scrambled up and started running around wildly, trying to guess where the person would fall. As the person got closer, they ran around even more frantically. When it was almost on top of them, they all ran into each other and fell to the ground. Groaning and rubbing their heads they looked up and quickly ducked down again.

_POOF_

The person landed on top of all three of them.

"First we're chased by a thousand robots, then we argue about two stupid plants, then we hear an earsplitting noise and get landed on by a random guy, _Squawk_. This is definitely not one of my days."

"Excuse me Chatot, but this guy is actually a girl, and a mighty pretty one at that."

They all stood quickly and helped the lady up. She had bright blond hair, a pink dress with a blue jewel on the chest, and wore a shiny crown upon her head. She looked around in bewilderment and then spotted Mario.

"Oh-oh, Mario!" She cried and leapt onto Mario, hugging him and crying at the same time.

"Aw, snap. Mario's already snagged her. Must be the "strong silent type" thing. Lucky." Sonic pouted as Chatot chuckled.

Mario was patting Peach's back (If you haven't figured out it's Peach yet, then you obviously haven't played Mario games) and comforted her.

Peach was sobbing out random sentences. "Oh Mario… so terrifying… dropped… fell so fast… I thought I was going to die."

Mario nodded and took it all in solemnly. After about a minute of this, Peach composed herself.

"Sorry Mario, I sort of lost my head there. I'm alright now. Who are these people?" She looked questioningly at Sonic and Chatot.

Chatot placed a wing on his chest and introduced himself. "I am Chatot. Pleased to meet you, _Squawk_."

Sonic bowed gracefully. "And I, fair lady, am Sonic, at your service, though I am sure my handsome name is nothing compared to a name that belongs to such a beautiful one as yourself."

Peach giggled and Chatot muttered something about a "suck up".

"Pleased to meet the both of you, Chatot and Sonic. I am called Princess Peach." At this Sonic made an obvious fake sigh of content and Chatot scoffed at his impudence. "I come from the Mushroom Kingdom, where many live in peace and harmony."

It looked like Sonic was about to say something swooney when Chatot interrupted him.

"Um princess, hope I'm not intruding here, but, uh.. exactly how did you come to falling out of the sky and onto our heads, _Squawk_?"

"Oh, yes. I guess I must explain my traumatizing ordeal to you all. It all started back when Mario and I were trapped in a cage with a bomb about to go off. Right before the timer hit zero, there was a bright flash of light and a huge tremor. Next thing I knew, I was waking up being carried by a blue thing at the speed of sound through the air. It was pretty scary already, but then the thing drops me and I start falling. I fall and fall and then I land here. That's it really."

"Wow, that does sound pretty frightening. But I'm sure you were as brave as a-" Sonic was cut off by Chatot clearing his throat.

"Another question Princess, _Squawk_. This blue thing that carried you, what did it look like exactly?"

Peach thought about this. "Well, it was blue and white for one thing. It had two arms and a narrow head. Coming off the head were two sort of straight ears. It also had two wings. That's all I can remember."

"Excellent description princess. The picture came to life in my head." Sonic complimented.

Chatot looked at Sonic. "Then maybe you'd like to draw a picture of it in the sand for us, _Squawk_."

Sonic stared alarmingly at Chatot. "Er… that's… um… I'm not the best artist. Ya, that's it. Not too good at drawing. I'll just keep it in my head thanks."

Chatot ignored Sonic and turned back to Peach.

"Excuse me princess, _Squawk_, but did that blue being look anything like this?"

Chatot started glowing and then morphed into a blue being with straight wings and a long elegant and aerodynamic body.

"Yes, that's it! That's what dropped me." Peach exclaimed.

The being nodded knowingly as it changed back into Chatot.

"It's as I thought. The thing that dropped you was a Pokemon called Latios, _Squawk_. It is rumored to be the fastest thing alive."

At this Sonic coughed indignantly.

With a glare, Chatot continued. "There's something weird though. We only saw one streak in the sky, but Latios almost always has its counterpart, Latias, nearby, _Squawk_. They are like brother and sister to each other, and will fight for each other with their lives. There's something else that doesn't make sense to me either, _Squawk_."

Sonic interrupted. "Come on, can we stop talking? We've been sitting here for over 30 minutes. I don't think I've ever stayed in one spot that long, unless I was sleeping. Tails is probably wondering where we are by now. Can we at least walk and talk?"

Everyone, even a reluctant Chatot, agreed to this, and they set off back to Tails.

"You were saying, Chatot?" Peach asked.

"Where was I, _Squawk_? Oh yes, Latios. Well, what doesn't make sense to me is that Latios dropped you several feet off the ground, _Squawk_. Latios is generally a friendly creature, I've met him myself. Him and Latias are two of the friendliest Pokemon you could ever hope to meet. For him to drop you like that, in combination with Latias' absence… There is something just not right, _Squawk_."

They all thought about this for a while until they reached Tails.

"Hey Tails, any luck with finding the entrance?"

Tails turned around and waved half-heartedly.

"Wellll… Sort of."

Suddenly, from behind Tails came a goofy voice.

"Tailsie? Who ya talkin to?"

When the speaker walked out from behind Tails, everyone gasped.

"He's…"

"_Squawk_?"

"…!"

"Oh no. TAILS, look out behind you!" Sonic leapt at the speaker. Quickly, the person (if you could call him that) extended his legs and Sonic passed right under him.

"Your friends wanna play tag Tailsie."

Sonic glared at the speaker. It was a made out of a liquid like substance (dun, dun). It had two arms that both ended in pincers instead of hands (dun, dun). It had a head with a stump sticking out the back of its head (dun, dun, dun). Inside its head, you could see something like a brain (dun, dun, dun, dun) It had two green eyes (dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun) It… was… Chaos!

"You just don't stay down, do you?" Sonic said.

"Hey, I think I know this guy. Give me a minute… Um… Oh, that's right. You're the guy I battled all those years ago. Your name was… uh… Ponic! Er… no, no, that's not right. Just give me another minute… Ponic… Poley?... Monic… Tonic… Tralalalalonic? Sony… Microsoft… ummm… Geico!... No,no… ummmmm… SONIC!"

Chaos jumped and tackled Sonic to the ground.

"Long time no see Sonic. So good to see you. Isn't the weather beautiful today? I love the colour orange. Did you see that bird up there?"

Sonic struggled out of his grasp and looked at Tails.

"Um… what's up with Chaos? How is he talking? I thought he went to a happy place."

Tails shrugged. "He's different from last time all right. No bloodlust, the ability to talk, and I think he has minor brain damage."

"Brain damage? Not me. I'm as fit as a… a… umm… fit as a whatever is really fit. Ooooh, what's that you got there. I love plants."

Chaos lunged at Mario who was holding the box with the two plants in it.

"Oh yeah, completely forgot about those things." Sonic said.

"Yeah, that generally happens when someone falls on you, _Squawk_." Chatot muttered under his breath.

Chaos abandoned fidgiting with the two plants and looked at Chatot.

"That's a funny noise, do it again."

Chatot stepped back, surprised. "_Squ-Squawk_?"

"Hee hee, _Squawk_, hah, _Squawk, Squawk, Squawk_."

As Chaos was fooling with Chatot, Tails came over and looked inside the box.

"What are these?"

Sonic walked up to him. "Just something we salvaged from our investigation of the factory. I have no idea what they are, but Mario does. Unfortunately, none of us can understand his gibberish." Sonic frowned, then brightened suddenly. "Wait a minute. Princess, you and Mario know each other right?"

Peach nodded.

"Then maybe you can tell us what Mario is saying. Of course, only if it pleases your majesty."

Peach giggled and murmured "Okay".

Mario nodded and explained what the plants were.

Peach gasped and turned to the others.

"Now I remember, these plants, I've seen them before…"


	15. Ch 3 Pt 3: Rage on the Knucklehead

_Chapter 3 Part 3_

**_Rage on the Knucklehead_**

_In Eggman's base…_

"Report now Sergeant. " Eggman ordered as he was munching on a cheeseburger.

"Roger sir." said a robot sitting in front of a large computer. "There are six life forms outside the base. One of them is made out of water." The robot reported.

"Water?" Eggman stopped chewing. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I say sir. It is made out of water and seems to have only a brain for an organ."

Eggman mused about this. "Only a brain, made out of water, hmmmmmmm. That's strange. What are they doing?"

The robot turned back to the computer. "They are just standing there, talking."

Eggman finished his burger in a few chomps. "Send Knuckles and his little friend out to greet them."

"Roger sir."

* * *

_Outside the base…_

"These plants are called Floro Sprouts and have the power to control people." Peach stated gravely. "Mario, myself and two others encountered them on one of our adventures. It is strange though; I thought we would never see them again. Only a few people knew about them. They bring back terrible memories, of poor Luigi being…" Peach trailed off.

Chaos smacked the ground. "Long boring talks bore me. Let's see some action."

Sonic stretched and yawned. "Took the words right out'a my mouth Chaos."

Tails nodded. "Right before you got here, Chaos was explaining to me how we could find a way into the base."

Chaos saluted and adapted a strange accent. "Correct, sah! Absoballylutely, wot wot? Let's all get into the jolly old base, wot? Got a perfect old plan to find an entrance."

Chatot leaned over to Sonic. "You fought this dude, _Squawk_?"

Sonic shook his head. "He wasn't always like this. I'm not sure if he's lost his fighting capability, but if he hasn't, you'd be wise not to get on his bad side. He's a force to be reckoned with, crazy as he might be."

Chaos marched over to where they thought the wall of the invisible structure was.

He turned back and saluted again. "Prepare to be flabbergasted, wot?"

Suddenly, Chaos started enlarging himself to a huge height. He kept on growing bigger and bigger until he was over fifty feet high. He then started raining himself down onto the base. As he flowed over and around it, the water gave shape to the invisible base.

"Oh my!" Peach gasped.

"Quick! Now's our chance to find an entrance." Tails said.

The group scanned the now visible structure until Sonic spotted an opening.

"Up there. Some sort of vent."

They all looked up and spotted the water running down the base in bumps on one section of the wall. Tails pulled out a balloon filled with something and waited. As the water finished passing over the vent, Tails threw the balloon with all his might. The balloon landed where the vent was and exploded, coating it with red paint. As they cheered and congratulated themselves, a door out of nowhere appeared and out stepped…

"Knuckles!"

"MARSHMALLOW!"

Chaos had reformed and was running towards the round pink ball standing beside Knuckles. Startled, the pink ball jumped and smacked Chaos with his hammer. The hammer passed right through him!

Chaos stopped, disappointed. "Not a marshmallow? DARN! I'm gonna be hungry for the rest of the day now. What do you have to say for yourself?" Chaos stared menacingly at Kirby.

Knuckles stepped forward. "You're intruding on private property. Leave now if you know what's good for you."

"Come off it Knuckles, what are you doing working for that Egghead?" Sonic asked.

"That isn't any of your business. I have a free will and will do what I see fit. Besides, why should I trust you Sonic?"

"Is that about the Master Emerald? Do you honestly believe I stole it? Just like all the other times Eggman lied to you, right? Ten to one he's the guy who has your emerald."

Knuckles glared at Sonic. "I don't like false accusations, Sonic."

Sonic laughed. "False accusations? You've got the wrong guy Knucklehead. Eggman has been making false accusations since day one."

"Enough of this." Knuckles growled. "Leave now or face the consequences."

Sonic smirked. "Make me."

They both leapt at each other, but before they collided, Chaos grabbed each of them with enlarged hands.

"You two are friends. Friends shouldn't fight. Good friends don't let the word of another turn them against each other."

"Did Chaos just make sense, _Squawk_?"

Knuckles turned to Chaos and snarled. "What do you know?"

He leapt from Chaos' grasp and punched him in the face. His hand passed right through and hit the brain. Chaos suddenly let go of Sonic and reduced to a puddle on the ground. Everyone gasped, even Kirby who was with Knuckles.

Turning around, Knuckles stormed back towards the entrance. Before he got there however, the ground started shaking. Knuckles turned around again. The puddle on the ground had started bubbling. It was forming back into Chaos except the green jewel eyes were now a blood red.

"That… hurt." Chaos said, still bubbling like boiling water.

Sonic backed away. "Everyone, run for it. NOW!"

Without any second bidding, they turned around and left Chaos to Knuckles and Kirby.

Knuckles got into a fighting stance. "Kirby, get back inside the base, I'll deal with Chaos."

Kirby blinked resolutely. "No way Knuckles. As I said before, I'm with you no matter what."

The enraged Chaos started thrashing about. It punched holes in the wall of the base and narrowly missed the duo multiple times. Knuckles got up close and punched Chaos in the brain again. This seemed to only make it angrier. It grew bigger and started rampaging around the area.

* * *

_Back with Mario and co…_

"Oooh, that was a narrow miss." Tails covered his eyes.

"We've got to find a way to calm Chaos down, or else he'll destroy everything." Sonic said.

Chatot snorted. "How are we supposed to stop something that big, _Squawk_?"

"How do you stop a giant who is slightly crazy and made out of water?" Peach asked the whole group.

They all thought about this. Suddenly Mario snapped his fingers and held up one of the plants.

"I got nothing." Sonic stared.

"Silly. We use those plants to control Chaos into calming down." Peach said.

"Are you sure it'll work? He's not exactly… er… _organic_, _Squawk_."

"It's got to. It's our only shot." Tails said.

They all nodded and made a plan.

* * *

_In the base…_

Eggman was running around frantically.

"Stop that maniacal thing now. It'll destroy our entire operation."

"We're trying sir, but it is invulnerable to bullets. Our own militia would be annihilated on the spot. We must rely on Knuckles and Kirby to defend us."

Eggman dived under a table and groaned. "A puffball and a Knucklehead? We're doomed."

_Back outside…_

Knuckles was in trouble. He had been nailed multiple times and was severely injured. He had laid some successful hits himself, but nothing compared to the damage Chaos had dealt.

"You take a rest Knuckles, I'll handle it from here."

Kirby ran past Knuckles towards the unstoppable beast. He looked up, and got ready for the gruesome fight.

"Hey!"

Kirby turned around and saw one of the people of the group from before. It was the fox with two tails, holding a green plant.

"Use this."

He threw it at Kirby. Kirby caught it and looked up at Chaos.

"Worth a shot." He said to himself.

Kirby leapt up and jumped off of the invisible building. When he was close enough, he threw the plant into Chaos. Chaos stopped moving immediately. Kirby landed and looked up. Chaos was completely motionless.

The rest of the group from before arrived and congratulated Kirby.

"Good job."

"Nice jump"

"…"

"Couldn't have done it better myself, _Squawk_."

"I knew it would work."

Kirby looked put off. "Aren't you guys worried about me working for Eggman?"

Sonic shrugged. "You look bright enough to see right through that Egghead. I figured you were just tagging along with Knuckles."

Kirby's eyes widened. "That's exactly right. Good guess."

Sonic winked. "Sonic the Hedgehog never guesses."

Tails coughed.

Peach came forward. "Since you were the one to install the Floro Sprout, you control Chaos. Tell him what to do."

Kirby turned back to Chaos.

"Return back to normal."

Immediately, Chaos returned to his small, green eyed-form. The Floro Sprout popped out of him as he looked around at everyone.

"Did I ever tell you guys I love the colour orange?"

Tails smacked his head. "He's as normal as he's ever gonna get. Thanks…"

"Kirby. Name's Kirby."

Mario's eyes widened. Peach looked over to him.

"What is it Mario?"

"Egli e l'eroe"

"What was that?" Kirby asked.

Peach looked confused. "I don't know. He said something really weird. He said you were the hero."

Sonic, Chatot, and Tails all exclaimed at once. "WHAT!"

Mario nodded. Kirby was now confused. "Hero? What does that mean?"

"Well…" Chatot explained to Kirby all about their journey.

"So that means you're meant for something bigger than working for Eggman, eh Kirby?"

Knuckles had recovered slightly and was now standing alongside Kirby. Before any of them could speak further, a voice came from behind them.

"Well done Kirby, very well done." Eggman walked up with two heavily armed robots behind him. "You showed initiative and did wonderfully." He turned to Knuckles. "You on the other hand, failed utterly to supress the beast. You are no longer of use to me. Begone from my presence." He turned back to Kirby. "Now, Kirby, I could make you a very wealthy and important person. All you have to do is work for me. Your first test of loyalty will be to remove these punks from my property."

But Kirby shook his head. "Eggman, you really aren't as smart as they say. For one thing, you insult my friend who you have already wronged greatly. Secondly, you tell me falsehoods just to do your bidding. And with what I just heard from Chatot over there, I think it is unquestionable whose side I must take."

"W-ah." Eggman stepped back, then recovered. "Fine then. Prepare to meet the same fate as all who oppose me."

"You mean gloating over your defeat." Sonic snickered.

Eggman jumped up and down in frustration. "Not this time Sonic. I built something especially for your tippy tappy feet."

He hurried back into the base with the two robots following. There was a tremor, and the base suddenly became completely visible. Almost immediately after this, the base broke apart to reveal a mechanized monster.

"Meet my Leviathan Mark II." Eggman laughed.

Chaos tilted his head. "What about Mark I?"

"Don't mention that failure of a robot to me. This one will not eject me halfway to the moon."

The Leviathan took off into the sky. It turned out to look like a dragon with a long body and tiny arms.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing, _Squawk_?" Chatot exclaimed.

Sonic looked at Chaos. "We could try him."

Chaos was playing with a butterfly, jumping around aimlessly.

Tails shook his head. "We shouldn't risk it. He'll probably go out of control again."

Kirby stepped forward. " Knuckles and I'll take care of this. It's the least we can do after threatening you guys, right Knuckles?"

But Knuckles wasn't listening. He was staring loathingly at the dragon up in the sky. In the center of it was the Master Emerald.

"He really did steal it. S-sorry Sonic."

"No prob Knuckles, isn't the first time and it most likely won't be the last. But we need you now. Go ahead and get your revenge." He winked.

Knuckles nodded. Kirby went up to the remains of the factory. He swallowed a piece of metal and suddenly got an attachment on his back. It looked like a jet pack with two guns coming off the sides. He turned to Knuckles.

"I'm ready."


	16. Ch 3 Pt 4: An Emerald a Day Keeps th ect

_Chapter 3 Part 4_

_An Emerald a Day Keeps the Eggman Away_

Kirby leapt up into the air, with Knuckles hanging on. Chatot made to follow but Sonic stopped him.

"We'll help only if things get rough. This is Knuckles' battles."

Chatot nodded reluctantly and stared up at the sky.

Eggman and his Leviathan were flying around Kirby and Knuckles, who were hovering in midair with Kirby's jetpack. Suddenly, the Leviathan lunged at the two. Quickly, Kirby ascended into the air as Eggman passed under them. Knuckles let go of Kirby and landed on the giant robot.

"Hey! This is no carnival ride! Get off now!" Eggman tried to shake off Knuckles, but he would not let go.

As Kirby kept the beast busy, shooting it and flying around, Knuckles worked his way to the Master Emerald. Before Eggman could stop him, Knuckles had broken the glass covering and had taken the Master Emerald out. The machine powered down and started falling out of the sky.

"What? No. I don't believe this." Eggman yelled as he fell to the ground.

Knuckles jumped off and Kirby caught him as they descended to the ground. Knuckles tossed the Master Emerald to Sonic as everyone cheered triumphantly.

Sonic caught the Master Emerald and waved to Knuckles. Suddenly, the smile left his face as he pointed frantically.

"Knuckles, look out!"

Knuckles and Kirby turned around and their hearts literally stopped. Facing them was the Leviathan, its mouth wide open.

"Hah,hahahahaha, you fools!" Eggman cackled from the cockpit. "Knuckles, you are the most predictable echidna around. I knew that if I broadcasted that Master Emerald right in front of you, you would take it and think you stole the power source to my machine. I have already stored the Master Emeralds power within this mechanical beast. That emerald is just a pretty ornament now. Pity you won't live to regret your final mistake. Fire laser!"

As the beast fired the laser, Knuckles pushed Kirby out of the way towards the ground. The beam hit Knuckles. When the laser had disappeared, Knuckles was no longer there.

Everyone gasped.

"You'll pay for that Eggman!" Sonic yelled as he jumped towards the machine.

"AhAhAh!." Eggman shook his finger. "Not today Sonic. Get a load of this!"

The machine turned towards Sonic and fired a gooey substance. It landed on target and punted Sonic to the ground. He tried to get up again, but found he could no longer move.

"Hahahaha. Sonic, meet my newest invention. The Gooey Sleepifier."

Everyone stifled an outburst of laughter… everyone except Chaos

". That's the funniest name I've ever heard. HAH. G-gooey Sleepifier. How long did it take you to come up with that? Did you have to _sleep_ on it. Hee hee hee."

Eggman did a death glare. "You won't be laughing when you find out what it does. First, it fires a sticky solution at the target so it is incapable of movement. As the target squirms to get free, it releases a poison into the targets skin that puts it to sleep. One of my greatest inventions if I do say so myself."

As Eggman was explaining this, Sonic's struggles became more feeble, and finally stopped altogether. Chatot's eyes widened.

"Uh-oh."

They all scattered to avoid the blobs of goo from the dragon's mouth. Eggman cackled madly as he fired one after the other. Peach went down first (obviously). Next went Chatot, then Mario and Tails, until finally, only Kirby and Chaos were left. Kirby was easily avoiding the goo with his jetpack, but Chaos on the other hand…

"I bet you can't even shootify me with that thing. I'm not exactly what the smart fox would call orginic, or-organiac, orgenirific. Whatever. That glop won't work on me. I'm ." Chaos was stickified to the ground and snoring like a hog.

Eggman turned to Kirby. "You're next."

Kirby eyes hardened and he spoke with a voice of steel. "Not if I can help it."

Kirby zoomed upward with the Leviathan hot on his trail. Eggman continued to fire his Gooey Sleepifier at Kirby, but Kirby was avoiding fire by the skin of his teeth every time.

"If a bunch of small ones won't work, then maybe a big one will!" Eggman said.

The dragon opened its mouth to fire a giant glob at Kirby. Kirby quickly turned around and fired into the dragon's open mouth. There was an explosion that caused the dragon's mouth to become lopsided on an odd angle.

Eggman was fuming. "You idiotic marshmallow! Now I can't fire anything at you. Fine! I can take care of you in other ways."

Eggman started shifting levers in the cockpit and the Leviathan started moving at high speeds towards Kirby. It smacked into him and sent him flying. He steadied himself, only to be knocked aside again by Eggman.

"Hah. Not so tough now, eh puffball? You're finished."

Eggman charged at Kirby for one final blow. But suddenly, the dragon stopped. Kirby stared in disbelief. Standing on the tip of the dragon's nose was… Knuckles!

"Y-you're alive!"

Knuckles nodded. "No time for a reunion now though, we've got an Egghead to deal with."

Eggman was furious. "How can I get rid of you and your stupid friends? I can't even shoot you with a giant laser and not have you come back, punching my Leviathan on the nose. I'll take care of both of you, and then your pathetic friends. I'll put you all in cages and send you off to the boss. Maybe then you'll stay gone."

Eggman's bot started swirling around, forcing Knuckles to jump off on to Kirby. The dragon stopped spinning and immediately charged at the duo. They tried to dodge, but the Leviathan was just too fast. They were knocked aside over and over. Kirby suddenly brightened.

"Wait. I've got an idea. Knuckles, try to keep him busy."

"Don't be too long. I can't do this forever."

Kirby rushed down to the remains of the base. He searched and searched among the rubble, but could not find what he was looking for. Finally, under a giant steel plate, he saw them. Knuckles' words passed through his head.

"_It is said that if all seven Chaos Emeralds are brought together, a miracle will happen._"

There they were, all seven Chaos Emeralds, all in separate capsules to keep them apart. He had seen some these being carried to a secret room on a trolley and had guessed that they were the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman had been in possession of them all along.

Quickly, he grabbed all of them and popped open the capsules…

* * *

_Meanwhile, back with Knuckles…_

The dragon was making another charge at Knuckles. He jumped nimbly aside as it collided with the ground. He leapt at it and punched it over and over in its robotic eye. The robot tossed its head and Knuckles went flying into the air. As he was tumbling in the sky, he saw the dragon coming up at him from below.

Suddenly, there was a great flash of light among the rubble of the ruined base. A bright golden light sprang upward into the dragon, easily knocking it aside. As Knuckles fell, the golden light flew underneath him and caught him. Knuckles looked closer at the golden light and suppressed a gasp of surprise. The golden light was in fact… Kirby?

"Hey Knuckles. Found those Chaos Emeralds you were talking about. They were okay, but the green one sorta tasted funny."

"You _ate _the Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles yelled, exasperated.

"Well of course I ate them, how else was I supposed to gain there power?" said Kirby as if this was obvious.

Knuckles smacked his head. "Never mind. Anyway, with the power of the Chaos Emeralds, you should be able to beat that Leviathan. Good luck Kirby."

Kirby nodded his head. "Thanks Knuckles. For everything. You've helped me grow a lot, and I appreciate things more now than I did ever before. Now to get some revenge on a certain mad scientist."

Kirby put Knuckles down on the ground and turned to the recovering giant and the stunned Eggman.

"So, you've pilfered my Chaos Emeralds huh? Just thought you could purloin your way into victory eh? Not while Eggman has anything to say about it."

Kirby mustered all his power and shot straight towards Eggman. Before he could move out of the way, Kirby had blown right through the Leviathan.

"What! No! I don't believe this!" Eggman yelled as he lost control of his robot. With an explosion, he was catapulted into the distance.

Kirby came down to the ground where Knuckles was waiting.

"That was a quick victory. Almost too easy." Knuckles said.

Kirby nodded. "You could even say it was almost a _miracle_. And a tasty one at that."

They both laughed at this as the others woke up, the effect of their gooey slumber slowly wearing off.


	17. Ch 3 Pt 5: You Are Half A Failure

_Chapter 3 Part 5_

**_You Are Half A Failure_**

_In the dark castle (again)…_

"So… you return to me Eggman." The sadistic voice said.

"Y-yes boss. I've uh… done what you asked oh Great and Magnificent One." Eggman was kneeling on the ground, grovelling.

"The rest of you, look upon this man and tell me what you see." The voice said.

"A whining dog who has come back for a treat."

"Another one of the _failures_ that have attempted to halt the actions of Mr. Jumpsallthetime."

"GRUNT!"

"So you think this man is useless eh? Well what I see before me, my minions, is the only buffoon who has come close to succeeding in completing my orders!" the voice yelled.

The rest of the minions stepped back in surprise while Eggman looked up.

"B-boss?"

"Even though you failed in capturing the heroes, you have made it so that we can follow them to their source of information. And I need you around to keep an eye on the factory anyway. You did fail in capturing them though, so some form of punishment is in order."

The voice snapped its fingers. There was a loud _BANG_ and Eggman was no longer there. In his place was a robot that looked exactly like the ones Eggman had created.

"Ahahahaha, the irony of it all. Now you and your robots are under my total control. I will make you Sargent Major of your entire army, and you will supervise the production at the factory. Now, begone."

With another snap, Eggman had disappeared.

"My faithful Dark King. My Sly Trickster. My Green Thunder and his pet. My Blue Lightning. You are my only admins left. I must rely on you four to halt the heroes in their quest, so we can complete our perfect world."

"Yes sir!" They all said, except for the blue streak. It glared at the being with a hatred so strong, that anyone would quaver just from a mere glance into those fearsome eyes.

The being stared straight back at the blue creature and spoke. "All of you, go from this place and prepare. All except you."

They dispersed into the darkness until the voice and the blue creature were the only ones left.

"My dear, dear Latios. You do know that I need you for my plan to succeed. None but you can spy on the heroes without being caught. And besides, I don't think you really have a choice in the matter. Rebellion has always led to the innocent getting hurt. And I'm sure you know which innocent will get hurt if you rebel, my dear Latios." The voice said with an evil grin.

Latios grunted at him in reply.

"That's better. Now, I have a very special mission for you. Follow those heroes to Meta Knight, and wait. When they have left on the next part of their journey, raid his cave. Bring me the book that I want. I must be sure of their next move, and who will join them. Is that clear?"

Another grunt of reply.

"Pardon?"

A more distinct grunt of reply.

"That's better. You may go."

As Latios left, the voice laughed to himself.

"It's all coming together. Come to me, my prey. AHAHAHAHA!"

_Meanwhile…_

"Ooog…" Sonic groaned as he came to.

He sat up along with the rest of the group. The sticky goo had disappeared.

"-CIBLE!" cried Chaos as he sat up. He looked around, gave a small "oh" and stood up.

The rest of the group gathered together.

"What happened?"

"Eggman happened."

"Yeah, wasn't he shooting at us with some goo gun?"

"Then we all fell asleep."

"I think I remember. Wait, _Squawk_, where's Kirby?"

They all looked around but could not see him. Suddenly, from above, they heard a voice.

"Finally awake are we?"

They all looked up and saw Kirby descending on his jetpack with Knuckles clinging on.

"Sorry we were gone for so long. We were just flying around. It's a blast."

They all stared.

"Knuckles?" Tails said.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" They all shouted.

Everyone tackled him to the ground in a big hug.

"O-okay, thanks for the affection, but I think I'm suffocating." Knuckles coughed.

They all got off of him and Knuckles got up and dusted himself off.

"How did you beat the Leviathan?" Peach asked.

Kirby spoke up. "Well, I was succeeding in avoiding the balls of goo and managed to destroy the Gooey Sleepifier. But then it kept on tackling me, and I couldn't get away. When it was about to deal the final blow. Knuckles pops out of nowhere and stops it in its tracks. While he held it off, I searched for the Chaos Emeralds in Eggman's ruined base."

Knuckles made a face. "Then he _ate _them."

Sonic was horrified. "You _ate _the Chaos Emeralds?_"_

"Oh don't worry, I spat 'em out after I defeated Eggman. After that, they scattered in different directions. Too bad, they were pretty."

Chaos gasped. "You had the Chaos Emeralds? How _dare _you. I am the only one who is allowed to eat the Chaos Emeralds. If anyone besides me shall engulf them with their overgrown mouth, I have no other choice but to… SLAP THEM ACROSS THE FACE!"

Kirby scrambled out of his jetpack and took off, with Chaos pursuing him from behind. Tails turned to Mario.

"So what's our next move?"

Chatot stood forward. "I say we send Sonic back to Meta Knight so we know where to go next, _Squawk_."

Sonic grinned. "I'll be back in a flash." Sonic tried to run but immediately stumbled and fell.

"Uh… just a sec." Sonic tried again with the same result.

"What in the world? I can't run… Well this sucks."

Tails pondered to himself. "Hmmm, maybe it had something to do with that goo. Something that prevented you from running."

Sonic gasped. "What! I can't run anymore? Oh, shoot me now, what is the point in living." Sonic cried to the sky.

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen. I'm sure Meta Knight will be able to fix you up, _Squawk_." Chatot scoffed.

"I'll come along too Mario. I can't really stay here can I?" Peach said.

"I'm coming too. Just for a little while, I've got a favour to ask of this Meta Knight." Knuckles said.

Tails was surprised. "Do you know him?"

Knuckles shook his head. "No, but he sounds like the sort of guy who could tell me what I need to know."

Kirby had come back, with a red mark accross his face. "I'm coming too, obviously, since I'm the next hero and all." He turned to Chaos. "What about you Chaos? You coming too."

Chaos appeared very smug as he bowed. "Why of course I am, my dear lad. You do need an escort through the dangerous wilds of Mobius and beyond after all. I shall accompany you to this Meta Knight character. Sounds like a spotting chap to have jolly cuppa tea with, wot?"

"Escort my foot." muttered Kirby.

And so they set off, Mario, Chatot, Sonic, Tails, Peach, Kirby, Knuckles, and Chaos. As they walked towards the far off Hiun City, Latios followed them discretely from a distance.

_An hour later…_

"This… is… the longest... walk... of my... life." panted Chaos.

Chatot snorted. "How do you even feel tired, _Squawk_? You don't even have nerves in that liquid body of yours."

Chaos held his head in pain. "Aaaaah logic, the pain!"

Sonic waved at the bickering duo. "Guys, shut your mouths. We're finally here."

They all stood in front of the hidden cave in the dark forest of Dreamland. Meta Knight came out of the cave.

"Greetings, I expect you have much to tell me."

Tails sighed. "You've got that right."

_To be continued…_


	18. Ch 4 Pt 1: Destruction, Devastation, ect

_Chapter 4 Part 1_

**_Destruction, Devastation, and Determination_**

"A very interesting story indeed." Meta Knight nodded solemnly. "Very interesting."

"So what's our next move, _Squawk_?" Chatot asked.

Meta Knight walked over to his large collection of books he had salvaged from his mountain home.

"I have been researching the ancient texts extensively, and have found something very peculiar."

He picked up a particularly dusty book from the floor and opened it upon the stump table in the middle of the cave. He continued to flip through the pages, leaving everyone else hanging. After a minute of silence, Sonic spoke.

"Well? Are you going to tell us what you found or are you just going to look at that book till the dimensions fix themselves?"

"Patience, patience my dear speedy hedgehog. I am searching for the exact page from which I discovered this startling information. Ah, here it is. Ah hem." Meta Knight prepared to recite.

"_When experienced plumber_

_Has found the three_

_One more is to be discovered_

_This one is the most important of them all _

_For at your journeys end_

_His sword of purity shall banish the evil_

_That has tainted all of their land_

_To find him though, that is the challenge_

_Though the heroes will succeed if they are united_

_Solve this riddle and you shall triumph_

_Connect the top of a mountain with what a king does_

_To answer the question of where to find whom you seek." _

There was another moment of silence (Broken by guess who?).

"What I got from all that was, 'Blah Blah Blah PLUMBER, Blah Blah Blah ONE, Blah Blah Blah RIDDLE, Blah Blah Blah POTATO'. Not sure about the last one though. Not too good with roems and piddles." Chaos said.

Meta Knight stared at Chaos. "I thought your brain seemed a bit undersized. Anyway, most of this poem is easy to understand, except for the end part. I have been working tirelessly to try and decipher the second last line, but it is quite confuddling.

"Hmm '_Connect the top of a mountain with what a king does_'." Tails thought. "It is very, er… _confuddling_. Anybody have any ideas?"

Everyone shook their heads, everyone except for Peach.

"I know the second part. What a king does is rule over his people. I should know that."

"A king rules, hmmm,' rule'. Something 'rule'." Sonic thought.

"Maybe it's a word." Knuckles offered.

Meta Knight nodded. "A word that ends in 'rule'. Wait a moment. That sounds strangely familiar."

Meta Knight rummaged through his numerous texts for a moment. He came back holding what looked like a brand new book.

"Haven't really read this one much. Just a couple of times." Meta Knight told everyone.

He opened it up and started searching through it, muttering 'rule' under his breath. Just when Chaos had fallen asleep, he was awakened by a shout of triumph.

"Ah ah! Here it is. It makes sense." Meta Knight laughed, his finger on a certain paragraph.

Everyone leaned over to try and read, but Meta Knight read it anyway.

"_The esteemed kingdom of Hyrule is ruled by high Elven princess, Zelda, who has had an extensive reign filled with peril and adventure. Brave hero of Hyrule, Link, has stood alongside Zelda for countless generations, protecting his beloved princess and his kingdom. The land of Hyrule is located over the forbidding mountains of Termina. Few have braved these rigid peaks and lived to tell the tale."_

Meta Knight finished reading and looked up at them all proudly. Mario had stood up, as if to leave right away. Chatot was just sitting there with a look like that-was-too-much-information-to-take-in-in-less-than-thirty-minutes. Sonic was sitting restlessly in his chair, probably wanting to leave as soon as Mario, maybe sooner.

Tails had a happy look of comprehension on his face and murmured "The top of a mountain is 'high'. 'Hy'… 'High'… I get it."

Chaos, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He looked as if someone had slapped him across the face for about an hour. He had a pained expression of _thinking_ on his face. Knuckles was a bit less extreme, but still confused. Kirby looked as if he understood, but was still lost.

"Where did you get that book?" He asked.

Meta Knight thought about this.

"Let me think. Hmmmm… some travelling salesman I think. Yes, that's right. A man named Tingle I'm pretty sure. Sold me this for a bargain. Nice chap, odd fashion sense though. Anyway, I think this Link character is the last hero you seek. Go to Hyrule, find him and bring him back here. After that, well… we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Sonic got up as if to leave. "We might as well get moving then."

Meta Knight put up a hand. "Hold on, you've had a long journey. I propose that you all sleep here tonight and leave early in the morning."

Chaos yawned. "I'll sleep to that." And with that, he slumped onto the floor and started snoring.

Everyone else obliged as well, some more reluctantly than others. They all found gatherings of grass along the wall and laid down for a good night's sleep.

Outside the cave, a blue creature was waiting, waiting for the moment to strike.

* * *

_In the morning…_

"We will come back upon the retrieval of the fifth hero. Until then, farewell Meta Knight." Chaos bowed.

Mario, Chatot, Sonic, Kirby, and Chaos were grouped at the entrance of the cave. Tails, Knuckles and Peach were with Meta Knight.

Meta Knight chuckled. "Thank you Chaos."

"Are you sure you guys want to stay here?" Sonic asked the trio staying behind.

Tails nodded. "I'll help Meta Knight research more. Who knows, I might even learn something."

"And I need to help Meta Knight return power to the Master Emerald, after Eggman drained it of its energy. I asked him about it last night and he said it can be fixed but it will take a while." Knuckles explained.

"And I will only hinder you on your journey, so I will also stay here." Peach said.

Chatot shrugged. "Your loss guys. We'll see you when we get back, _Squawk_."

They exited the cave and started out of the forest. Meta Knight had pointed them in the direction of the Termina Mountains. They had walked but thirty seconds when Chaos stopped.

"Hold it, I forgot something back at the cave. Wait for me K?"

Chaos ran back as the others stopped.

"Wonder what he forgot." Kirby said.

Sonic laughed. "Who knows? It's Chaos."

They waited for another minute when suddenly there was a huge explosion back where the cave was. They all exchanged startled looks and ran back towards Meta Knight's cave. When they arrived, a horrific scene met them.

At the opening of the cave, water was everywhere. Everything was soaked. Inside the cave, all of the books had been ripped apart with the paper left strewn everywhere. The stump in the middle was turned over and there were black blast marks on the side of the cave. Buried under all the sheets of paper was a shaking form. Mario ran over to it and brushed aside the torn pages. It was Peach.

"P-Peach? What happened?" Kirby asked.

Peach was sobbing out random words. "Was… Terrible… Chaos… Ran… Forest… Explosion… Meta Knight… La… La… La… Latios!"

"Latios." Chatot gasped.

"Where are Meta Knight and the others?" Sonic asked.

They all turned around to the sound of someone moving in the trees behind them. Out from the foliage stepped Knuckles and Tails. They came panting to the entrance of the cave. Knuckles was scratched and bruised and Tails had a cut above his left eye.

"What happened?" Sonic asked, shocked.

Tails spoke first. "It was Latios. The one who dropped Peach in Mobius. It came out of nowhere. It was making grunts at Meta Knight and Meta Knight was getting all angry and saying stuff like 'You cannot have it' and 'Leave now and don't come back'. Latios started getting angry and prepared a ball of energy in its mouth. Then Chaos came in and took in the situation at a glance. He leapt up and punched Latios in the face. Then they started duking it out. Knuckles tried to join in, but Chaos pushed him aside and told us to run. Latios suddenly turned to the cave and prepared another ball of energy. He fired and then… and then…" Tails stopped.

"And then Chaos leapt in front of the blast and blocked it." Knuckles continued in a voice that was filled with sadness. "He was blown apart in an explosion of water. I ran at Latios and tried to fight him, but he was too strong. He knocked me aside, rushed in, picked a certain book off the floor and blasted the rest of the cave. Latios tried to make a getaway, but Meta Knight blocked him. He was lightning fast, that Meta Knight. I wouldn't want to face him in a fight. His skill of the sword was unmatched. But even that was not enough to stop the bulk of Latios. Latios bowled over Meta Knight and carried him off into the sky at top speed. Tails and I ran after him, but we stood no chance. Meta Knight is gone." Knuckles said angrily as he punched the wall in frustration.

Sonic gaped. "Chaos is dead, Meta Knight is gone… What now?"

Chatot stepped forward, shuddering a bit. "We… We continue on our quest, _Squawk_. I'm sure that's what Meta Knight would've wanted us to do."

Knuckles nodded. "I agree. I'll stay here with Tails and Peach to clean up the cave. If any other's come, I'll be ready." Knuckles said with a dark glint in his eye.

Mario nodded and led the four heroes out of the forest towards the far off mountain range, a bit more sullenly, and a lot less happily.

* * *

_After a two day journey to the distant Termina Mountains…_

The four friends looked up at the tall mountain from its' base.

Kirby gulped visibly, and Mario massaged his feet uncomfortably.

"Well, I guess we better get started. The mountain won't climb itself." Kirby said shakily.

Sonic suddenly snapped his fingers and made a scowl. "Darn it! I forgot to ask Meta Knight to restore my ability to run.


	19. Ch 4 Pt 2: The Land of Green

**Chapter 4 Part 2**

_**The Land of Green**_

The snow was pelting down. The unrelenting blizzard was ravaging the barren landscape. The treacherous mountain tops of Termina were making it as miserable as possible. It was cold, unbelievably cold. It was so cold that if it was any colder, your feet would freeze to the ground.

"I-it's so cold, that if it were any colder, m-my feet would freeze to the ground, _Sq-Squawk_." Chattered Chatot.

Sonic scowled at the shivering bird, obviously in a bad mood from the cold. "You don't have feet. You're a bird, you featherbrain. You have _talons_."

Chatot glared at him. "No need to be smug about it, _Squawk_. Just expressing that if we don't get off this mountain quick, we're all going to die of hypothermia, _Squawk_."

Kirby sighed. "Do they always bicker like this Mario?"

Mario shrugged and carried on along the mountain path.

The other three trudged miserably behind, as the howling wind drove them on.

"Ah…ahh… AHH CHOO." Sonic sneezed. "This… is way too cold."

* * *

_An hour, three minutes and fifteen point four seconds later…_

"C-can't move my legs." Sonic rasped.

"_You_ can't move your legs? _Squawk_. I lost feeling in them in them long ago. Now my wings are freezing up too. Next, I won't be able to _Squawk_." Chatot argued.

"Good riddance." Sonic muttered under his breath.

Kirby turned on the duo. "Would you to p-put it to rest! I-it's bad enough we're lost on this freezing mountain, without you two acting like little children!"

Chatot glanced at Kirby and a glazed look came over his face.

"It's wonderful."

Kirby lost it. "WONDERFUL? What do you mean wonderful? We are going to die here and you say that's wonderful? You and Sonic are bickering like there's no tomorrow (and there probably isn't for us) and you say that's wonderful? What is wrong with you?"

Chatot just shook his head and pointed behind Kirby.

Everyone turned around, and everyone gasped.

Just over a small hillock, there was green. A lot of green. And not just green, but blue too. And red, and yellow, and brown, and violet, and purple, and turquoise and magenta and every other colour you could think of. It was that paradise we all dream about. The rolling green hills, the waving trees, filled with luscious fruits. The clear blue sky was filled with white fluffy clouds that cast pockets of shade onto the world below. The sun was shining not too bright and not too dark, and its rays of shine looked absolutely stunning. There was a spontaneous rainbow in the background to top it all off. This beautiful landscape, this perfect paradise, filled the four heroes with a relief you cannot begin to imagine.

"If I'm dreaming, the person who wakes me isn't gonna see the light of day." Sonic said dreamily.

They ran, forgetting the cold and their fatigue. It was as if they had entered an entirely different world. The temperature switched from freezing to pleasantly warm almost immediately.

"So this is Hyrule, huh?" Kirby said. "Nice place, if I do say so myself."

Mario nodded in awe.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to get some rest, _Squawk_." Chatot yawned and headed straight for the nearest tree.

The others followed and settled down in the cool shade of the green boughs.

* * *

_A good sleep later…_

"Whew… That was the best sleep of my life." Kirby stretched.

Chatot looked around. "Where to next?"

"I say we find this Zelda princess person. Meta Knight's book said something about Link being her guard." Sonic suggested.

Kirby nodded. "Good idea. Let's start looking for a castle. That's where royalty's usually found, right?"

Everyone agreed to this and looked around for somewhere to start searching. Everywhere they looked was flat valley, except for back the way they had come, and nobody wanted to go back there.

When a minute passed without any suggestion of where to go, Kirby spoke.

"I say we just choose a random direction and head on from there."

"That sounds good. I vote that Mario chooses where to go." Sonic said.

Chatot nodded to this and Mario shrugged. He closed his eyes and spun around in circles until he no longer had any sense of direction any more. He finally stopped facing in the direction of a distant dark forest. Mario opened his eyes and looked around for the group's approval. They were already starting off towards the distant forest. Mario followed from behind to begin the next leg of their journey.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Ganondorf." the voice said.

Among the very few standing before the voice, the armour clad, red-head bowed with a grimace.

"Yes, _my lord_." He said sarcastically.

"The heroes are already in Hyrule. You have dealt with Zelda, correct?"

"Yes my lord, but I still insist that you consider Li-"

"I have already settled that Ganondorf. Thanks to Latios, however, I no longer need any guesswork or risks. The book tells all about the prophecy. And nowhere in that book does it concern your little green friend."

Ganondorf bowed again. "Yes, my lord."

"Good, you may go. And you too, Green Thunder. You and your pet should go to the gateway and barricade it thoroughly. You never know, our armoured friend over there might actually fail."

A green figure with a black cloth covering his eyes spoke.

"Don't worry boss. I won't fail you like those other smalltimers. I will take every precaution possible to deal with Mr. Jumpsallthetime."

"I'm sure you will. Farewell."

Ganondorf and the masked figure vanished almost instantly into the inky blackness, leaving only two behind.

"Doopliss, go and assist our green friend. If Ganondorf fails, that will be our final stand."

Doopliss nodded and disappeared as well. This left only Latios.

"Well, well Latios. You have done very well. I'm almost considering releasing your sister for what you have done. Not only did you get me the book, as I wanted, but you went a step further and captured Meta Knight. Not only that, but you also managed to get rid of one of the more powerful of our enemies. Yes, you have done very well."

Latios just floated there, emotionless.

"Yes, you can have your sister back, after one last favour. You know the green prisoner with the sword. He is no longer a threat. The book you gave me speaks of only four heroes. You know what to do with him."

Latios nodded and sped into the distance.

"Yes, you will get your sister back. Hahahahahahahaha!"

* * *

_In front of a dark forest…_

"Who are we looking for again?" Sonic whispered to Chatot.

"Some guy named Link, don't you remember?" Chatot said, looking at his dark surroundings.

Up close, the dark trees seemed to sap the colour out of its surroundings. The green lush grass was now dull, along with the sky overhead. The trees had dark trunks and the leaves looked scaly in the shade.

"Soooo… who wants to go in first," Kirby said.

No one offered and an awkward silence ensued. It was broken by a loud boom in the sky. They all looked up startled and saw the blue streak of Latios blasting into the distance.

"What was that?" Kirby asked in awe.

"Latios," Chatot said gravely. "The last time we saw him, he dropped Peach on us, _Squawk_. Jerk,"

"Hey, what's this?" Sonic asked.

A green triangular cap had dropped from the sky onto Sonic's head.

"Looks like a green hat." Kirby said.

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Thanks a lot Sherlock."

Chatot squawked at them. "_Squawk_. Quiet you two. Do you hear something?"

They all finalized their bickering and listened for what Chatot had heard.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Sounds like screaming."

"Thanks again Sherlock."

"Just trying to help,"

"Wait, that's someone falling from the sky!"

"Oh no, not again,"

_Poof_

"If this person isn't a blond princess wearing a pink dress, I'm gonna rage, _Squawk_!"

In fact, the person who fell upon them from the sky was not a blond princess wearing a pink dress, but was in fact, a man dressed in a green tunic, a brown belt with a golden buckle, brown boots, white leggings and dirty blond hair.

They all got up and dusted themselves off. Chatot, seeing that the man was _not_ a blond princess, prepared to peck him to death! Lucky for the green man, Mario held Chatot back while Sonic made introductions.

"Hello random man. My name is Sonic. That angry fowl over there is called Chatot. The short red man in overalls holding him back is named Mario. Finally, this pink blob beside me is Kirby. Who, may I ask, are you?"

The green man dusted off his worn tunic and bowed majestically.

"I, kind sir, er… hedgehog, am formally known as Sir Rillian the XXIII. Wait, no, that was my great-uncle. Ummmm… Oh yes. Alfred Williamson the Fourth. Er, no, he was my brother twice removed. Erm…. It seems that my fall has twisted my memory a bit. Well my name does not matter at the moment. A pleasure to meet you my dear Sonic. May I please have my cap sir, if you may."

Sonic started, then remembered that he was still wearing the triangular hat. He handed it to the green man, who thanked him politely.

"Thank you. What, pray, are you doing in front of the Forest of Life and Death, but mostly Death?"

Sonic acquired a look of curious startlement.

"The Forest of Life and Death? Who named it that?"

The man shrugged. "Alas, some fool who wished it upon the forest. Woe betide, it seems the forest itself has adapted to its name over the years. Now it is filled with the fiercest of beasts."

Kirby gaped. "You mean some dude just came by and named it The Forest of Life and Death,"

"But mostly death," the man cut in.

"Yeah whatever," Kirby shrugged. "and then some random fearsome beasts come and live in it just because of the name?"

The man nodded. "In layman's terms, yes."

"Huh, that'll add some complications to our quest." Chatot sighed, forgetting his rage.

The man brightened at this.

"A quest? Adventure? Thrill? Excitement? DAMSEL IN DISTRESS?" He started yelling.

"Great, now you've gone and set him off on an insane rant." Kirby muttered darkly at Chatot.

"Insane, my dear marshmallow? No, no. A quest is the meaning of life. Slashing through the densest of dense undergrowth, fighting the most dreaded of all foes, solving the most puzzling of puzzles. Adventure is what keeps your blood pumping. It is what makes you alive. As a wise sage once said, you are never closer to living than when you are even closer to death." The man had drawn his sword and was now posing heroically with it.

Chatot leaned over to Kirby. "Somebody introduce me to this "wise sage", _Squawk_. He needs to set his priorities straight."

Kirby nodded as the green man started talking again.

"Let me join you in this thrilling escapade. I will guide you through this forest, and in return, you shall let me accompany you on your journey. It is settled then? Good. Onward to adventure."

The man had not even waited for any of them to agree on this before he turned towards the forest and started hacking his way through an overgrown trail. The rest of them shrugged at each other and went with the flow. Deeper into the depths of the Forest of Life and Death – but mostly Death. Delving into mystery with only a mystery man to guide them.


	20. Ch 4 Pt 3: Hero's Honour

_Chapter 4 Part 3_

**_Hero's Honour_**

In the dense undergrowth of the Forest of Life and Death, but mostly Death, it was gloomy. The sharp bristles cut you as you walked past, the mosquitos attacked in swarms, and you always felt as though something was watching you.

Everyone in their party of five took note of the above paragraph. Everyone that is, except for the mysterious green man.

"Perfect day for adventure. Slashing through dangerous territory. Ah, this is the life." The man sighed contently as he hacked at a particularly large bush.

Chatot leaned over to Kirby for the usual gossip.

"This guy's weird, _Squawk_. I mean, not only does he not know his own name, but he doesn't even know what we're trying to accomplish, and yet he's leading us through this forest. I doubt he even knows that we're looking for someone named Link, _Squawk_."

The man turned around. "I know of this Link you speak of. He is the guardian of Hyrule and protector of Princess Zelda. He is a courageous hero and is a personal friend of mine. If it is him you want to see, I can easily arrange a meeting."

Chatot, startled that the man had heard what he had said, muttered shamefully to himself, but Kirby replied more confidently.

"That would be very profitable to our… er, _quest_."

"Glad to be of assistance." The man bowed and began traversing through the trees. Kirby and Chatot followed with Mario and Sonic bringing up the rear.

"So… you do this often?" Sonic attempted at conversation with the mute plumber.

Mario nodded absentmindedly, obviously thinking of something else.

Sonic carried on. "Me, I do adventuring all the time. Like that weird man said, it's what makes me feel alive. Though I'm not completely against relaxing from time to time. What about you?"

Mario nodded again, staring off into his own hidden world.

"I wonder what happened to Eggman. Actually, come to think of it, both Darkrai and Eggman mentioned something about having a boss. I've never known Eggman to work as a subordinate. Wonder who the smarty-pants he's working for is. Bet he's not too bright, relying on that Egghead to take care of us, eh? Still, I wonder if we will meet this _big boss_ guy soon."

Mario had paid more attention to this part of the conversation and shrugged noncommittally. The trees had started to thin out and they could see a light ahead.

"Well that wasn't much of a challenge. Where were all the ferocious beasts that were supposed to live in the _Forest of Life and Death_?" Kirby asked the green man.

The man sighed. "How many more times must I tell you, it is the Forest of Life and Death, _but mostly Death_? And as for your question, I presume that the beasts are having some sort of holiday. You can't expect them to patrol the woods every day, now can you? That would be just rude. What if you were expected to walk all day and night through a danky old forest, attacking traveller upon traveller? It would get both tiring and dull. They need to hang loose once in a while, you know."

The man nodded in satisfaction and promptly kept walking ahead to the light, where he was set upon by a giant, ferocious, panther-like beast.

The man laughed, which is a difficult thing to do when you have the full body weight of a panther-like beast upon your chest.

"Looks like your holiday is over then. Ha ha! Prepare yourself foul beast."

While Mario and the others gaped, the man rolled out of the panther's grip and stood up. He waved his sword in what was obviously supposed to be a heroic manner, and then promptly attacked the beast.

"I shall prevail, be sure of that. No need to help me, my fellow adventurers, I shall deal with this pest myself."

The man did not have to tell the group twice.

"Pest, _Squawk_? That thing is huge!" Chatot said to Kirby.

The panther attempted to land blow after blow on the green man, but he just dodged aside, enjoying himself immensely. He did not seem to be using his full strength either, for whenever he got a chance to slash the beast with his sword, he merely poked it with the tip, which seemed to enrage it further.

"A bit slow today, aren't you Krantan? Disappointing, I was hoping for a bit of a challenge. You need to work out more. I suggest running a few laps around the forest if I were you. Build that agility up a bit, and you might be able to land a hit on me." The man advised as he swerved gracefully behind the panther and poked it in the behind.

The beast ran into the undergrowth, its yowls of pain and frustration echoing into the distance. The man sheathed his sword, nodded, and started walking to the far off light again.

Kirby ran up beside him. "Um… excuse me sir? Did you know that er… thing?"

The man looked down at him. "Who, Krantan? Of course I know him. He is the ruler of these woods. Krantan is a confused beast, and often thinks he can attack the innocent without consequences. I must frequently teach him lessons both in combat and in manners."

Kirby stopped walking. "You take him on, all by yourself, _repeatedly_?"

The man stopped too. "Correct."

Kirby looked questioningly back at the man. "Isn't that a job for the hero of Hyrule, Link?"

The man frowned. "It is a, as you call it, _job_ for any who are willing and able. Prestige and fame do not matter when it comes to fighting evil."

The man continued walking, leaving Kirby behind. Kirby looked back at Mario, Chatot and Sonic and decided to wait for them to catch up.

When they finally came to the edge of the forest, they found the man on his knees, crying out in anguish. They ran over to him to find out why, but there was no need to ask. The reason was all too clear. Before them was a village. A village with a giant castle in the middle. A village with houses made of brick with roofs of straw. A village that was on fire.

It seemed to have been burning for quite a while. The flames were now burning down to embers and the sky was filled with black smoke.

"Um… was that your home?" Sonic asked the man nervously.

He did not answer. He stood up and began running through the ruined village towards the castle in the center. The rest of them followed, wondering what he was doing. They arrived at the flaming castle, and entered through the broken door. Inside, the man was calling out.

"Zelda! Princess Zelda! Where are you? Hello? Anyone? Aarragh!" The man punched through a damaged wall in frustration. "I can't leave the kingdom for one day without that stupid Ganon-idiot coming and wreaking havoc. Now the princess is gone, either kidnapped or in hiding. And I have to go and defeat that pig even if he hasn't kidnapped her. It's honour. A hero's honour! I wanted to relax too. I'm coming for you Ganon." Without another word or punch, the man ran back out of the castle.

"Hero's honour?" Kirby said to himself, and then ran after the green man.

The group of heroes found him running towards a distant mountain with dark purple thunderclouds roaring above it.

"What now?" Chatot said."The town's been ravaged, the princess is gone, and that Link guy's probably gone too, _Squawk_."

"And to top it all off, I still can't run." Sonic pouted moodily.

"Would you two stop whining! The only reason Link isn't here is because he just left." Kirby said, exasperated.

Mario nodded to this, but both Sonic and Chatot had a confounded look upon their faces.

"What do you mean just left? How would you know? We were with you the whole entire time." Sonic said.

Kirby slapped his face. "I know because that man we met _is_ Link. The way he talked when he was in the castle. The way he was taking responsibility. The way he was talking about _hero's honour_. It's obvious isn't it?"

Sonic thought about this then said, "But if that's true than that means…"

Chatot took off towards the dark mountains, calling over his shoulder, "It _means_ that the fifth and final hero has left without us, _Squawk_! Come on!"

And the rest of the group followed after the green clad man, or maybe, Link?


	21. Ch 4 Pt 4: Five Heroes United

**Chapter 4 Part 4**

_**Five Heroes United**_

"So princess, where is your gallant Link now?" Ganondorf grinned, looking down on the bound and gagged Princess Zelda.

Ganondorf laughed. "We have disposed of Link. He is gone forever. With the hero of time gone, your kingdom is mine at last." Ganondorf laughed again, a cold piteous laugh.

He turned around and made his way out of the dungeons of his battle fortress. This was a glorious day. Today would be the day Ganondorf took control. Of everything. He would not settle for one stupid kingdom. No, all the dimensions of the universe sounded much more appealing than one measly kingdom. That big boss was fooling himself. Ganondorf served no one. First he would take care of the heroes. Then he would go and receive his reward from that dimensional freak. After that, he would amass an army secretly and lay siege to him. Then Ganondorf would usurp command of the entire universe, and all its dimensions.

Ganondorf arrived at a balcony overlooking the dark mountains. He laughed again. This was a glorious day.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Hey. Hey! Wait up. Link!"

The group of four friends hurried to catch up with the green running figure. At the sound of "Link" he stopped running and turned around.

"Link?" he said questioningly as the group ran up to him, panting.

Chatot recovered quickly. "Yes, _Squawk_. Even though you don't remember your name, we think your name is Link."

The man looked down at him. "I know my name is Link."

All of them gasped in surprise.

"But then, how come you said you had forgotten your name?" Kirby asked.

Link shook his head. "I am too well known for my own good. I knew you all were strangers when you didn't recognize who I was. But I still didn't want to risk being swarmed by fans by telling you my name. So I faked amnesia. I thought that I would eventually tell you who I was, after I had analyzed you."

"Analyze? And what were your results?" Sonic asked, a little reproached.

Link turned to Sonic. "You are impatient and like to keep on the move. You have a carefree personality and a blind sense of bravery. I also got from the fifth frown line on your face that you can't swim."

Sonic glared, but Link just turned to Chatot.

"You, Chatot, have curiosity to match your quick wit. You are faithful to all of your friends and have a ferocious temper. I also know that due to that weird birth mark shaped like a hook on your shoulder that you don't like the flavour of Tartar Sauce."

Chatot looked confused as Link turned to Kirby.

"You, Kirby, are capable of thinking on your feet and have a knack for solving puzzles. However, you can get quite arrogant and misguided by how you figure things out, and this paired with your stubbornness, is a dangerous combination. I also found from the lack of fingers that you love every single kind of food except one; marshmallows."

As Sonic and Chatot burst into laughter at the infuriated Kirby (or marshmallow *HAHAHAHA*), Link turned to Mario.

"You, Mario. Well… I couldn't really get anything from you because you didn't talk a lot. You do have a sense of control and rarely lose your head. Your bushy moustache says to me that you should use more conditioner on that thing."

Link, finished with his critical criticisms, waited for their response.

There was a long silence of Kirby seething, Sonic and Chatot giggling silently and Mario just staring, waiting.

Finally, Kirby spoke. "So were we good enough for you, or do you not like people who don't like marshmallows?"

Link's face fell. "I have displeased you."

"Of course you've displeased me. Do you know how long it's gonna take for those two stooges over there to forget about what you said? You're gonna have to come up with an even more hilarious statement about someone else."

Link frowned. "I did not make those up. I am trained in the art of physicastrity."

Sonic had just settled down from his giggletastrophe, when he broke out in laughter all over again. Chatot through many Squawks of laughter said.

"Physicastrity, _Squawk_? I-is that even a word, _Squawk_?" Then Chatot followed Sonic into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Kirby smiled. "Very good Link, I think that did it. Maybe you can think of some more before our journey's over."

"What do you mean by that?" Link asked.

"I guess we better explain everything to you. And since those two are incapable of speech at the moment, and Mario just plain doesn't like talking, I'll explain it."

And so Kirby explained to Link of their journey and what they meant to do. He told him of their accomplishments so far, and he told him of Tails, Knuckles, Peach, Chaos, and Meta Knight. Kirby told Link everything.

Chatot and Sonic had finally calmed down, and were now hiccoughing in the aftermath.

"So, you are saying I am the fifth and final hero needed to restore the dimensions to their rightful form?"

Kirby nodded. "So will you do it?"

Link chuckled. "Friends, friends. I have done a great wrong in lying to you, and I am sorry. But let me tell you this. The only lie I have ever told you is about my name. Everything else I said was as true as I can possibly tell you without feeling uncomfortable. And if you have been paying attention to what I have been saying, you would know that I would never miss peril, danger and adventure for anything."

"So… that's a yes right?" Kirby said

Link laughed a hearty laugh. "Yes, of course I am coming. But there is one thing we must do before embarking for the final stage of our quest. You have seen what the evil Ganondorf has done to my village. I must go to his castle and punish him. I would be very pleased if you would accompany me in my attempt to thrash him."

Everyone looked to Mario. Mario contemplated for a moment then nodded.

"Right, then off to the dark mountains we go. The thrill of adventure, it is all one needs in life."

_Boom, boom, boom._

Kirby looked around nervously. "Uh, guys. Is it just me, or is the ground shaking?"

_Boom, boom, boom._

"You know, I think Kirby's right, I think the ground is shaking." Sonic said looking at the ground, confused.

_BOOM, BOOM, BOOM_.

"Ah, I know the source of the problem." Link said happily.

"Well, what is it, _Squawk_?" Chatot asked, a little scared now.

_BOOM, BOOM, BOOM._

"It's the troll that guards Ganondorf's castle." Link said happily.

"WHAT!" They all yelled in unison.

Link waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, nothing to worry about. It's incredibly stupid."

"ROOAARGH!"

Kirby's eyes widened. "I know plenty of stupid things that can still hurt you."

With a grin Link turned around and drew his sword. "Ah. But we have strategy and wit on our side. We also have numbers. This troll does not stand a chance."

Around a nearby hill, there appeared the source of the tremor. The troll was not only huge, but ugly as well. It had a dim-witted face, and its eyes seemed like they were too close together. Its bluish-grey skin seemed to ignore the beautiful sunlight, and wallowed in its own dullness.

As it spotted them and started trampling towards them, everyone (except Link) looked as if they were about to run.

"Hold your ground." Link called over his shoulder, pointing his weapon at the giant.

Everyone obeyed, but reluctantly.

"You have an idea Link, or are you just going to stand there posing?" Sonic asked nervously. The beast was getting closer and closer.

"Of course I have an idea. You think I would be standing less than fifty feet from a charging troll, and not have an idea. I'll need all of your help though, this one's a bit bigger than the rest I've faced. If only we could dig a hole, it would be a lot easier."

"I can take care of that,_ Squawk_" Chatot said.

Link turned to him doubtfully. "You? Okay dig it right here." He pointed to a spot right behind him. "Make it really big, ok."

Chatot nodded, and then transformed into a beast with claws almost half as long as its entire body. As it started digging, Link pulled a long string from his bag.

"Here." He tossed one end of the string to Mario. "Hold it taut in front of the hole."

They backed up until the string was stretched a few feet off the ground.

"And now Sonic, we need you to be bait."

"B-bait?" Sonic gulped.

"Don't worry, it's easy. Just stand behind the hole, and big guy over there will do the rest. Oh, and er… try to look appetizing."

Sonic, half indignant, half scared to death, stood on the opposite side of the already complete hole. Chatot, or Ditto, or… whatever it was scurried out of the hole and stood alongside Mario to hold the string.

"Hey. You big lug. Over here. Bet you can't get me." Sonic started waving his arms and jumping up and down.

The beast was now really close. It looked intrigued by Sonic and started making its way over to him.

"Get ready." Link said gritting his teeth.

The troll lumbered closer and closer. It was now practically on top of them. As its left foot got caught on the string, it slowly toppled over. Mario, Link, and Chatot, struggled to hold on to the slippery ends of the string. Just when Mario thought he would have to let go, Chatot jumped up, transformed into a big beast with four arms, and pushed the troll the rest of the way into the hole.

It gave a strangled yell as it toppled into the darkness. Everyone cheered, especially Sonic, who had been trembling the entire time. Chatot changed back into, well… Chatot. Everyone congratulated each other on their victory over the troll.

"Nice work on that plan Link. First time we've ever had a plan for anything, _Squawk_." Chatot congratulated.

As they started moving again, Sonic walked beside Link. "So, who is this Ganondorf guy anyway?"

Link shook his head. "He is the king of evil. He has a power hungry syndrome. He wants to control as much as possible, and will do anything to accomplish this terrible feat."

"So, how long have your been feuding with this Ganondorf."

Link sighed. "Fate has linked us together, no pun intended. We have fought and fought for generation upon generation. I have managed to defeat him multiple times, but he always finds a way to resurrect himself."

Sonic nodded knowingly. "I know how you feel. Villains can get awful tedious in the 'come back to life' department."

"Ganondorf has certain qualities that put him above the rest of the villains of the world." Link said.

Sonic looked at Link questionably. "Oh, and what's that?"

Link looked at Sonic dryly. "Brains."

As the two laughed at this, Sonic in particular thinking about a certain scientist, Mario, Chatot, and Kirby were having a heated discussion, or rather, Chatot and Kirby were having a heated discussion, and Mario was nodding and shaking his head.

"So once we defeat this Ganondorf guy, what do we do next?" Kirby asked with a nervous glance to the approaching mountain.

"We could go back to Meta Knight's cave and look through some of his books, _Squawk_." Chatot offered.

"We might have to resort to that if there's nothing else we can do. I think it would be useless though. Latios took all of the books having to do with the prophecy. I think we should question Ganondorf on the whereabouts of this _boss_ all the villains are talking about."

Chatot looked at Kirby questioningly. "How do you know Ganondorf is working for the same guy as King DeDeDe, Darkrai, and Eggman?"

"It's just a feeling I'm getting. Our mission now that we have the fifth hero is to find the source of the dimensional disturbance. We can't afford to let Ganondorf escape when we beat him."

Mario nodded to this and then motioned to Sonic and Link walking ahead of them.

Kirby nodded as well. "Yeah, you're right Mario. I almost forgot. Chatot, you have to go tell the other two of our plan."

Chatot smiled slyly. "Why don't you go do it? Or does Link perhaps have some _marshmallows_ in his tunic somewhere, _Squawk_."

As Chatot ran ahead laughing with Kirby raging and chasing behind him, the mountain loomed ever closer.

* * *

**_The reason this chapter took so long is because my computer has been acting a bit rebellious lately. I've had to send it in multiple times to be fixed, but i think the major kinks have been worked out. Again, I'm sorry the recent chapters have been later than usual, I'll try and keep up now that summer vacation has begun. I hope your enjoying reading The Dimensional Twist._**

**_Chaos7_**


	22. Ch 4 Pt 5: Infiltration FAILED

_Chapter 4 Part 5_

**_Infiltration… FAILED_**

"Do you think we could knock?" Kirby asked.

They were standing in front of the giant front doors of Ganondorf's castle. The castle was a sickly shade of dark purple, and gave off that eerie feeling that it just wants to be left alone.

"Well, we walked through the front gate easily enough, why don't we just walk straight in here?" Sonic shrugged.

Link shook his head. "That would be too easy; we must climb through that window up there."

They all looked to where Link was pointing and saw, way above the giant front doors, a tiny little window on one of the top towers.

Kirby gaped. "How are we supposed to get up there?"

Sonic pouted. "If I could run properly, I'd be able to run straight up this stupid castle to that stupid window. Then I'd be able to pass down a _really_ long stupid rope or something. But no, that stupid Eggman had to take away the most glorious thing in my stupid life."

Link was surprised. "You can run fast enough, to run up _walls_!"

"I used to be able to. I could run up walls, on water. I could cross a desert in a second. If given the chance, I could probably run around the world in less than a minute. But now that is all gone. Who could've guessed that some piece of goop could take away what made me Sonic." Sonic sighed.

Link looked up at the tower for a while, then back at Sonic. "Princess Zelda is experienced in magic and remedies. If Ganondorf has in fact kidnapped Princess Zelda, then I am sure she can find a cure to the absence of your speed."

Sonic brightened. "Zelda can get my run back?"

Link nodded.

"WHAT ARE WE DOING MOPING AROUND HERE FOR? Let's get moving up to that window right now."

Suddenly a rope fell down beside them. They all looked at it confused and then looked up. Chatot was flying down from the top window looking triumphant.

"While you guys were busy ignoring the fact that I'm a _bird_, I took some rope out of Link's tunic and flew up there, _Squawk_." Chatot landed on the ground and turned from Link to Sonic gloatingly. Then he squawked. Neither Link nor Sonic were there any longer. Chatot looked behind him and saw them both scrambling up the rope. Mario looked at Kirby and started climbing as well. Kirby shrugged and climbed up after him. Chatot flew up, determined to beat them to the top.

"Not even a glimpse of thanks. Last time I do anything extra, _Squawk_."

Inside the castle, Link was formulating a plan.

"Right, our main objective: thrash Ganondorf. Possible side quest: rescue Princess Zelda. Knowing Ganondorf, he'll be in the central room of the castle. We just get there undetected and the rest will be easy."

Kirby grimaced and pointed behind Link. "So much for going undetected."

Link looked behind him and saw a goblin running down the hallway. "Quick! After him!"

They all started sprinting towards the retreating figure, but to their dismay, they saw a caged door dropping across the hallway, barring their path. They came to a stop in front of it with Sonic once again complaining.

"If only I could run. Then I would catch up to that goblin like nobody's business."

Suddenly, the floor dropped away beneath them.

"Oh no." Link said calmly.

They all dropped down the dark shaft, landing far below into a jail cell. They got up groaning.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know how we survived that fall. _Owwww_ that really hurt." Sonic groaned.

They heard a voice from above.

"Everybody all righ- _Squawk_!" Chatot's voice was cut off. Soon after, his limp body fell from the hole in the ceiling into Sonic's lap.

"Ch-Chatot!" Kirby yelped, then rushed over to the prone foul.

Link followed. He felt his head and then looked inside his beak.

"It's okay, he's not… Well, he's just knocked out."

Chatot groaned. "Is that Link the physicatritician talking, _Squawk_?"

Kirby sighed. "You're all right. What happened? Why didn't you fall down the pit?"

Chatot grinned. "Bird, remember? Gosh you guys are absentminded, _Squawk_. I was just up there when someone wacked me in the back of the head. Guess they wanted me to join you guys in this dump, _Squawk_."

Link looked around. "This certainly is a mess."

Mario was kicking at the jail cell-like bars across the only opening in the small room. The rest was solid rock wall, with one bed and a dresser inside.

Chatot stood up shakily. "I could slip through those bars. I'm small enough."

Link shook his head. "Those metal bars are deceiving my friend. They are probably cursed with dark magic, making it impossible to escape through them. But if there is one thing I've learned in my many adventures, it's that there is always a way out of a jail cell."

Link began tapping multiple spaces on the walls. The group looked at each other questioningly, and then copied him. After a minute of this, Link held up a hand for them to stop moving.

"A guard is coming. Act miserable."

They all sat miserably on the floor as an ugly looking goblin walked into view.

He snorted at the prisoners. "Hah, master Ganon is greatly disappointed with your performance. He expected the heroes that were giving the rest of them so much trouble to be a little more challenging. Hah, it seems even the great Ganondorf can be mistaken."

Kirby looked up. "What do you mean the rest of them?"

The goblin narrowed his eyes. "Don't play fool with me. The other guys you messed with. Master Ganon's accomplices, though by far, master Ganon is the most cunning of them all. Let me see, there was a fat penguin, a bloke by the name of Darkfry or something, and then there was this scientist guy. All of them were punished for failing to eliminate you four… wait… one, two, three, four… five? There are five of you? Master Ganon said there would only be four. Master Ganon said for sure there would only be four, I must go warn him." The goblin wobbled off nervously.

"Only four of us? So they were expecting us then. So King DeDeDe, Darkrai, and Eggman are all connected to Ganondorf as well." Kirby said as soon as the goblin was out of sight.

"Before we contemplate about our current predicament, I say we have a little fun with that goblin. He'll say to Ganondorf there are five of us, so we'll make sure there's only four when he comes down here." Link said with a grin.

Chatot scoffed. "And how are we going to do that, _Squawk_?"

Link went over to the dresser. "Right before that goblin showed up, I found this." He moved the dresser aside to reveal a small hole in the wall.

"Woah, what are the odds of that!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Quite high actually. Ganondorf always seems to have some sort of fault in his jail cells. Must be in a handbook or something." Link shrugged.

"So… which of us is gonna hide in the hole?" Kirby asked, looking around at the others.

"I think it should be me." Link decided. "He knows me. If he sees me in here, he'll put this cell under high security, and we don't want that now do we?"

"But you're the biggest out of all of us! That's gonna be a tight fit, _Squawk_!" Chatot said.

"But he also has a point. We don't want Whatsisganon coming down and having a fit over greenie here." Kirby pointed out.

Sonic and Mario agreed with Kirby, along with Chatot after some more short discussion that isn't worth putting in here.

"Quick Link, I think they're coming back." Kirby hurried Link into the hole and Sonic and Mario pushed the dresser back in place.

They heard some voices from down the corridor.

"Over here my lord. They are in this cell here."

"I know what cell they're in Grintag. I planted the trap myself." Boomed a deep voice.

The goblin came back into view, followed by a tall, armoured man, with flaming red hair. His eyes stared down at the prisoners with the cruelty and disdain of a ruthless monster. He looked every single one of them over and smiled.

"My dear dear Grintag, it seems you have miscounted. As you can clearly see, there are only four prisoners in this cell. All the ones that were predicted. The pink puffball, the blue hedgehog, the bird, and the plumber." He looked down at the cowering goblin, a benign smile on his face. His eyes, however, glowed with a cold malice.

"I-I'm sorry m'lord. I was sure there were five of them in here, I really was. There was all the ones you said, plus a green one m'lord. A green chap with a sword."

Ganondorf stiffened. "Green? Sword? You do know, Grintag, who you are referring to, don't you?"

Grintag stuttered. "I'm n-not sure what you're talking about m'lord. I can't th-think of anyone except… My lord Ganondorf, surely you don't mean… The one you disposed of? He couldn't have come back, could he?"

Ganondorf's gaze swiveled back to the occupants of the cell. "He better not have Grintag, or there will be a reckoning, I'll be sure of that." He growled. "You!" He pointed at Chatot. "Are you the only ones in here? Was there anyone else with you?"

Chatot glared. "Anyone else? Do you see five people in this cage, stupid, _Squawk_? Or is this mystery green guy hiding somewhere in this cramped space? Perhaps we should search behind the curtains, or behind the bathtub. Maybe he's concealed himself somewhere in the front hall. He must be somewhere in this _mansion_ of a cell, _Squawk_!"

Ganondorf stepped forward menacingly. "Why you cheeky little… You obviously don't know who you are talking to. I am the great and powerful Ganondorf. Bow before me or face my wrath!" He stood proud looking at the four friends sitting blankly on the floor. His proud look changed to a frown, as the heroes continued to stare blankly at him.

"What, did you mean literally? Look… uh… _Ganon_… I've been on my feet for a while and really need to sit down for a while. You understand, don't ya?" Sonic said casually, sitting comfortably back on his hands.

"I should destroy you all this very second, but no. No no, not yet._ He_ wants to see you before I finish you off." Ganondorf said with a smile. He turned and walked away. "Keep an eye on this cell Grintag. If they escape, you know what will happen."

Grintag looked fearfully at Ganondorf. "Y-yes sir. Always sir." He then turned to the cell. "No funny business now. You'll be punished terribly."

"Ooh, be still my quaking legs. If any of the others sneeze, I'll be sure to let you know, M-master Gr-Grintag." Sonic stuttered mockingly.

"Sh-shut your mouth." Grintag murmured before turning his back on the cell.

Everyone gathered around the dresser where Link was hiding.

"What do we do now? We can't really escape with that buffoon standing out there." Kirby whispered.

"I say we knock him out through the bars and then break out of this cell. Those bars can't be as hard as they seem." Sonic offered.

"What do you think Link, _Squawk_? …Link?"

They heard a faint scratching noise coming from behind the dresser.

"Link… Hello?" Kirby, ever so carefully started moving the dresser aside.

Suddenly a voice came from behind it. "Don't move it! We can talk quietly like this."

Everyone gave a sigh of relief. "What are you doing behind there?" Sonic asked, trying to see into the hole without moving the dresser.

"I'll explain later, right now, we need to find out how Ganondorf knew we were coming. It seems this is bigger than some random raid on my home. The goblin, he spoke of others. Do you know of them?"

"Know them? You bet we know'em, _Squawk_. The scientist was Dr. Eggman. We took care of him right before we met you. Then the one named Darkrai, we met up with him in a dark forest, along with Sonic. Then the fat penguin, that'd be King DeDeDe. He was trying to steal Meta Knight's books for some boss or something, _Squawk_. Come to think of it, all three of those goons were talking about some boss. Maybe Ganondorf's their boss."

"No no, that can't be right. Grintag said they were his accomplices. Ganondorf is proud, he never works for anyone without a very, very good reason. Whoever is commanding him must be powerful indeed." Link said from his hiding place.

"So, to defeat them once and for all, we need to find the top dog. Let's get started then." Sonic said.

"Wait, we don't even know where to start looking. I say we interrogate Ganondorf on the whereabouts of his commanding officer, _Squawk_." Chatot cut in.

"Besides, we still have to make sure Zelda is safe remember? I can't go gallivanting until I ensure her safety." Link said. "Which brings us to how we are going to escape from this prison. These walls don't seem to be the strongest in the world. I've been digging on from this small hole with my sword. It's already quite big. If one of us could distract ol' Grintag over there, then I could dig out of here and go on from there."

Chatot chuckled. "Distracting is my specialty, _Squawk_. You just dig your hole and let Chatot take care of the rest."

Chatot then started glowing and morphed into a giant spider-like beast.

"_Ariados._" It hissed before making its way towards Grintag.

The goblin turned and jumped when he saw the spider. He backed against the opposite wall, staring fearfully at the spider.

"Wh-where did you come from? Don't come near me, I-I'm scared of spiders."

The spider crawled up against the metal bars and glared at the cowering goblin. "_Ariados_." It hissed again.

Kirby edged towards the dresser. "How's it going Link? Do you think you're almost out?"

Link's voice came in an echo. "I think so, the hole's pretty deep already. Just a bit more I'd say."

Kirby turned back to the scene in front of him and gasped. The giant spider had Grintag completely engulfed in a string-like substance. The poor goblin was struggling, giving muffled screams on the floor. The spider changed back into Chatot.

"Simple String Shot." He shrugged as the others stared at him.

Suddenly Link's voice yelled from the hall outside the cell. "There! Man that was a quite a squeeze." Link crawled out of his tunnel and dusted himself off. "So, now to set about releasing you from your prison."

He gripped his sword tightly and took a fighting stance. He raised his sword and slashed across the bars, slicing them in half. As they clattered to the floor, the group moved out into the hallway.

"Whoah, that's some sword you got there Link, to be able to cut through steel." Sonic said admiringly.

"We could've climbed through the hole, but that was way more cool, and required less effort on my part, _Squawk_." Chatot said cheerfully.

Kirby sighed. "Couldn't you have done that from inside the cage?"

Silence followed this remark. Mario hit is head with his palm. Chatot looked from Link to Kirby and back again. Sonic blinked slowly, staring at nothing. Link… kicked a wall in frustration. As he was bouncing around in pain, Kirby sighed again.

"There's no use crying over spilt milk. We'll go and find Zelda, capture and defeat Ganondorf, and then be on our way."

Link stopped jumping and looked at Kirby. "You make it sound easy, saying it like that."

Kirby shrugged. "Out of all of you, I should be the most overwhelmed. The most I ever do is chase after random animals because they stole my food."

"Are you kidding? I've never gone on an adventure before this. I was more a diplomat than anything back home, _Squawk_. Why I even-" Chatot raged.

"Now now, don't get your feathers in a flurry. Let's just get on with what we were doing and be done with it." Sonic cut in.

Chatot and Kirby turned away from each other, pouting. On the other hand, everyone was cheerful and looking forward to getting on the move again.

"See ya Grintag." Link waved to the bound goblin as they walked around the corner, up some stairs, through a door, down a hallway, through a window, over a fissure in the floor, up a spiral staircase, through a final big door, and into the main castle.

* * *

**_Sorry this one took so long. I've been away most of the summer and have been unable to upload or write my story. To make up for the long wait, I will upload two at the same time._**

**_Chaos7_**


	23. Ch 4 Pt 6: Escape With a Boom

_Chapter 4 Part 6_

**_Escape With a Boom_**

Ganondorf walked briskly down towards the dungeons. He had heard some sort of commotion down there, and his fears might have been fulfilled. As he rushed down into the depths of his castle, he remembered the fate of the other three idiots. He couldn't turn out like them. He _wouldn't _turn out like them. He came around a corner and saw Grintag bound up on the floor.

"What happened?" he yelled.

The goblin attempted to speak, but his words were muffled by the string-like substance. With a grunt of exasperation, Ganondorf pulled the string from Grintag's mouth.

The goblin gasped. "Link, sir, it's Link! He's back."

Ganondorf gripped the string tightly. "That's impossible. He couldn't have… RAAAAAAGH!" He punched the wall with such force that he left a gaping hole in it. "LIIIIIIINK!" he roared.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"So, where to now?" Kirby asked to the entire group in general.

"As I said before, Ganondorf is likely to be in the central room of the castle. We'll start by making our way there." Link informed.

They all agreed to this, until Chatot brought up an important point.

"So, what if he isn't in the central room, _Squawk_?"

Silence…

"Uhhh, then we will probably have to search every single room of this castle until we come across something important." Link shrugged.

"How comforting." Sonic sighed.

Mildly subdued, they started down a random hallway that seemed to be heading for the center of the castle. After walking a while, they heard some thumping behind a nearby door.

"Should we check it out?" Kirby asked, staring warily at the door.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Sonic shrugged as he went for the door.

"Don't say that!" Chatot yelled.

Sonic turned, confused. "Why not?"

"Because whenever someone says that, bad things happen. It never fails, _Squawk_!"

"Oh come on, that's just superstition." Sonic laughed as he turned the knob on the door.

_WHEEEEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOOOO-WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOOOOOO_

"What's that?" Kirby said, looking around wildly.

Link smacked his head. "The worst that could happen. Seems this room was set with an alarm. Now Ganondorf knows exactly where we are. Great. Fabulous. I'm in absolute ecstatics."

"That's… sarcasm right?" Sonic said slowly.

"No time to explain the tricks of the English language, we've gotta get out of here!" Kirby said, taking off at a run down the hallway.

As the rest followed, they heard the floors above them tremble. As they rounded a corner, they saw several goblins running towards them.

"Looks like we'll have to fight our way to Ganondorf." Link said grimly, pulling out his sword.

"I'm ready." Kirby said, putting up his stubby arms.

"I'll teach 'em to get in my way." Sonic said smugly.

"I'll show them the awesome power of my transformation skills, _Squawk_!" Chatot grinned as he changed into the giant spider again.

Mario pulled out his hammer and nodded for Link to lead them.

Link nodded back, then turned to the enemy militia. "CHARGE!" He yelled.

They all ran full-tilt at the approaching goblins. Right before they were about to collide, the floor disappeared beneath the menacing beasts. With a strangled cry, the first of many goblins slipped down the hole in the floor. The five heroes skidded to a halt and looked on as the many goblins piled up and hit each other into the empty space.

"Another trap?" Kirby said, looking down.

"Well that was anti-climactic." Sonic said with a sigh.

"I was looking forward to a brawl." Chatot said sadly as he changed back into his bird form.

Link sheathed his sword. "Let us continue on our quest then. We must be close now. I can feel it."

Mario nodded (again) and put away his hammer.

They hopped over the hole and went on into the foreboding castle. They met no resistance as they continued onward, the walls around them getting darker and danker the further they went. Finally, after descending a flight of stairs, they came to a halt outside a gigantic door covered in chains.

"This is it. Beyond this door is our destination." Link said triumphantly.

Mario tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"I expect if it was that easy, we would be out of here by now." Kirby said, sizing up the door.

"Let me handle this." Chatot said. He glowed again and changed into a giant Tyranitar.

With a roar, he tackled the door with all his might. The chains shook and suddenly, Tyranitar was blown back. With a groan, Chatot changed back into his former self.

"Well… that didn't work…_Squawk_."

Link frowned. "It will take more than brute force to get through this obstacle. Let me think about this."

They all stared at Link as he paced back and forth in front of the door. He paced. And paced. And paced some more. After Chatot had just fallen asleep, Link gave a "EUREKA!" that jolted the bird awake.

"We need a password to open this door. Now, what would the password be… Hmmm." He started pacing.

Sonic groaned. "Not this again. Leave this to me, Linky old boy. Passwords are my specialty."

He went up to the door and cleared his throat.

"Ahem… Open… No? Okay then…. Enter… Door… Please… Ouvre… Hmmmmm… Ganondorf… I am Ganondorf… Ganondorf is awesome… Ganondorf is the best…. Who wouldn't want to be Ganondorf?... Ganonforf is always gonna be better than anyone will ever be… Hmmmmmmmm. Sonic… I am Sonic… Sonic is awesome…"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Kirby said in exasperation. "Maybe it doesn't need a password. Maybe it want's the answer to a riddle."

The chains shook. "It is true." Boomed a voice. "To let you pass, first you must answer my riddle correctly."

"Why didn't you tell us that in the first place, _Squawk_?" Chatot asked angrily.

There was silence. Then… "It was hilarious to hear the things that blue hedgehog was coming up with. 'Who wouldn't want to be Ganondorf?' Hohohohoho. Too funny."

Sonic scowled. "Get on with the riddle then, we don't have all day." He said poutily.

"Fine fine." Answered the door. "Ahem. Here's the riddle…

_Why did the chicken cross the road_?

If you solve this unimaginatively tough riddle, I will let you pass into the room beyond."

Kirby scratched his head. "Are you sure that's really a rid-"

"Ooh! I think I've heard this one before. The answer's ummmmm…" Sonic paused to think.

Kirby looked at him, exasperated. "It's not even a riddle! Riddles are supposed to be… well, riddling. This doesn't even make sense!"

Chatot shook his head. "Nonsense,_ Squawk_. You expect it to be your average, run of the mill riddle? No, this one is going to be very tough to figure out, _Squawk_."

Link nodded. "It will take all our knowledge to come up with the correct answer. Let us think on this."

Mario nodded his agreement and started thinking of the answer to the puzzling riddle. (Even if he found an answer, he wouldn't even be able to share it due to his speech problems, making his attempts useless. Oh well.)

"Not you too." Kirby whined. He looked around at everyone contemplating about the so-called "riddle" and sighed. "Oh for goodness sakes."

He walked up to the door and raised his voice. "I have the answer to your riddle."

Everyone looked at Kirby in surprise. "Good job Kirby." "That's our man, er, I mean… puffball." "I knew you could do it, _Squawk_!"

The door's voice boomed again. "You do, do you. We'll see about that. All right then, why did the chicken cross the road?"

Kirby sighed, as if this was below all his standards and level of thinking. "The answer is… to get to the other side."

"That is… absolutely correct!" The door shrieked excitedly. "You're the first one to ever get that right. Even Ganondorf had to go all the way around to the other door, and he made up the riddle."

There was a silence in which tension crackled through the air like microwaved popcorn.

"O-other door? What do you mean other door?" Link said slowly.

"Oh, the other door that opens into the room beyond. It's not nearly as fun as me; it just opens after you tell it your favorite colour. Mine takes brain power." The door said proudly as the chains rolled off of the door and onto the floor. (Yay, I made a rhyme, and in such little… no, I won't do that.)

"If you'll all excuse me, I have to go kick a wall and severely injure my _other_ foot." Link growled.

"Why use a wall? There's a perfectly good and solid _door_ right here. Let's all severely injure our feet, AND WHATEVER ELSE WE CAN USE TO CAUSE THIS CHUNK OF WOOD SOME SERIOUS HURT!" Sonic yelled.

"Hey now, it's not my fault you didn't know about the other door. Blame yourselves for bad navigation skills. Honestly, you'd think you guys were intruders. All of Ganondorf's goons know this castle inside out… Wait… You guys are part of Ganon's army right? Right?"

The five heroes looked at each other, than charged the door. Bursting through the protesting door, they sprinted into the room beyond. They looked around and admired the ornately furbished area. Fancy purple curtains, though without windows. A red carpet going down the center of the room leading up to a fancy throne. A pretty princess tied and bound sitting in the throne. Gigantic pictures of clouds and men dressed in togas. A- Wait a minute. Go back a sentence. No, not the pictures of the toga people, the one before that…. That throne has real gold lining along the cushion! Wait, is that not the thing I should be pointing out? Of course it is, what could be more important than… oh. My bad.

"Princess Zelda!" Link cried, running down the room towards the tied up princess.

"Magic remedy lady!" Sonic cried, running after Link.

"Golden chair!" Chatot cried, flapping after both of them.

"This is too easy!" Kirby cried, and ran after all three of them.

"…" Mario was as mute as ever as he ran after the quartet of adventurers.

As Link and Sonic reached the princess, Chatot started pecking the chair with his beak, making a clanging sound. Just as Kirby came puffing up to the foot of the throne, Link managed to remove the piece of fancy fabric from Zelda's mouth, enabling her speech.

"It's a trap!" She cried as soon as the cloth was removed.

Kirby could only say one thing as the door slammed shut behind them. "We… are… finished."

Mario looked behind him and his eyes hardened. Kirby and the rest turned to see Ganondorf at the head of over a million goblins (It's a really big room.), holding weapons, and brandishing them menacingly.

"You've made it this far. I would congratulate you, but, as this _is _obviously a trap, that means I expected you to get this far, which would defeat the purpose of congratulating you, a ritual that is generally saved for occasions when you are pleasantly surprised by someone. But, since I expected you to get this far, and you are intruders upon my castle, I am neither surprised nor pleased. It is a shame to say that this is the end of the line for you. I will capture you and send you to mister big guy and get rewarded. After that, I shall usurp command and rule _all dimensions_ as King Ganondorf. Muahahahahahahahahaha!"

"We certainly are in a bind now." Sonic said with a grimace.

"This will be harder than anything else we've done before, even harder than that riddle." Chatot chattered.

"I told you, it wasn't a… Never mind. We can pull through; we have to be able to, after coming this far." Kirby said determinedly.

"Kirby's right, after all, we do have one advantage on our side." Link laughed, drawing his sword.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Sonic asked.

"The Stormtrooper effect." Link said cheerfully.

"The Stormtrooper effect? What's that, _Squawk_?" Chatot tipped his head to one side.

"It's when a small group or even one person manages to slay a group of over a million without sustaining serious damage and/or death. It's the base factor of everything I ever do, and I'm sure that all of us have this same effect at the bottom of all our adventuring lives."

Kirby sighed. "I was hoping that our advantage was more… how do I say this… _material_."

"You sigh too much." Link scoffed. "Thinking too much isn't part of a hero's job description. If it was, we'd probably be smart enough to get an honest job, and actually get paid for our heroics. But no, that isn't what we do, now is it? No, we must rush into battle, both hastily and cockily, and leave our thinking to birds."

Chatot narrowed his eyes. "Sorry to burst your bubble Link, but I think it's going to take more than… er, 'The Stormtrooper effect,' to take care of this battle. I'm gonna go with Plan B, which is formulate an actual plan rather than relying on some weird, bird-brained best-guess, based on bad-guys being battling buffons, _Squawk_"

"Uh, Chatot, I'm afraid your Plan B is gonna fail, unless you can come up with a winning strategy in the next twenty seconds." Sonic grimaced.

Chatot looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Sonic pointed to the goblin armada they had been ignoring during their diplomatic debate. They were charging at them, waving their weapons about madly.

"Twenty seconds is up, let's get ready to rumble." Link said.

They all braced themselves for battle, as Ganondorf laughed safely from behind his army.

Will the five heroes be able to conquer this evil lord, or will they fail to save the princess, and all the dimensions? Could their journey and this entire story be in vain? Find out in the next chapterrrrrrImean paragraph.

Link yelled to the others. "Let's battle back to back. That way we won't be attacked from behind."

They all prepped for battle. (again)

Mario got out his hammer. (again) Chatot transformed (again) into a creature with a skull for a mask, and had a bone club in his hand. Sonic got into a fighting stance. (again) Link brandished his already unsheathed sword. (again) As they formed into a circle, Kirby smiled smugly to Sonic.

"Watch this." He sucked up the weapon of the nearest goblin. He suddenly acquired a green hat (strangely like Link's) and a sword (also strangely like Link's). Waving his sword around wildly at the enemy, he taunted them.

"Come and face the awesome wrath of Sword Kirby. My personal favorite." Kirby backed into the circle of heroes as the goblins closed in.

"Right, this time, we really will have to fight. Get ready guys." Link called.

"Roger." Chatot said.

Sonic looked at him. "Who's Roger?"

"ATTACK!" Yelled Ganondorf.

The goblins charged at the fearsome five. Link battered away with his sword at every goblin within reach. Kirby was mimicking Link as closely as possible, using all his sword skills to avoid being hit. Chatot, or whoever he transformed into, was smacking every single enemy in sight with his bone club. Sonic was ducking and weaving with at least some of the speed he had once had, getting a punch and a kick in wherever he could. Mario was battering the enemy, not only with his hammer, but also with his worn boots. Their devastating circle of destruction was working well against the enemy armada. Or so it seemed. Every time one goblin was taken care of, two would take its place. When I said there was over a million, I wasn't exaggerating. It might have even been an understatement. The five heroes were soon growing weary under the strain of the battle.

"I can't keep this up for much longer." Panted Kirby.

"We've got to, we have no other choice." Link said through gritted teeth.

"Guess running isn't an option when the enemy is this plentiful." Sonic said.

"I guess the saying quality over quantity isn't true after all." Kirby said.

He suddenly cried in agony as a goblin managed to land a blow on his left hand with a club. Another goblin knocked Mario's hammer out of his hands, forcing him to go hand to ferocious weapon. The goblins closed in as the heroes circle got smaller and smaller. Suddenly a loud knocking sounded through the hall. Everyone stopped fighting, even the goblins, as another door on the other side of the room started talking.

"To get through me, you must pass a test, see? Beyond lies a room, with glorious splendour and a little gloom. To enter yonder chamber, you must tell me your favorite colour."

"Is that it? I was expecting a riddle or something." Said a strangely familiar voice from the other side of the door.

"Just tell it your favorite colour braniac." Growled another familiar voice.

"But, I don't really have a favourite colour. I like all colours equally. You must have a favorite colour, I mean, look at you. Your completely red."

"I could say the same for you, Mr. Yellow. Seriously, it's not that hard a question. Just tell the dumb door your favourite colour and we can move on."

"If this question's so easy, _you _answer it. You're obviously _way _smarter than me."

"I should punch you for your sarcasm, but I have a thing about punching little girls."

"I am NOT a girl; I am a dignified and intellectual male."

"No boy uses the words dignified, intellectual, and certainly not male when describing themselves."

"Just tell the stupid door your favourite colour."

"Fine, fine. Ummm, door? My favourite colour is red."

"Who could've guessed?"

"Shut up."

"I'm not letting you through."

"WHAT? Why not? I told you my stupid favourite colour."

"Yeah, he told you his _stupid_ favourite colour."

"I'm serious, if you push it any farther, I'm going to overlook my standard of not punching girls."

"I'M NOT A GIRL!"

"Stop your quibbling! I will not let you through because you called me stupid."

"Great, we just _had _to get a door with feelings."

"You were always a bit insensitive to inanimate objects. Remember the emerald?"

"GOSH! Give a guy a break. It shatters once-"

"Twice. And the second time was your own doing."

"It was the only way to keep it safe. Just drop it ok? Seriously now, we really need to get through this door."

"Sorry, no can do Mr. Rudie Pants."

"… Tell me, door, are you a girl?"

"Actually, I'm genderless, being an inanimate object and all."

"Good, can you feel pain?"

"Errr… I don't think so. Why?"

"Because… I'M GONNA BASH YOU INTO THE GROUND!"

There was a loud _BOOM_ and the door flew open. When the dust cleared, they saw, in the now empty doorway, Knuckles and Tails.

"Hi guys! Did we miss the butt-kicking?" Tails waved.

"Obviously not, you dolt. The enemy's still standing." Knuckles said shaking his head.

"We're saved!" Kirby cried.

Tails picked up Knuckles and flew him, using his two tails, over the watching goblins. They both landed in the middle, next to the five heroes. Tails dropped to the ground panting.

"You need to lose some weight Knuckles." Tails gasped.

"Are you kidding me? I have muscles enough to punch open a door, but my arms are the size of sticks. I have absolutely no muscle to logically back up my immense strength, and you say I need to lose weight? You just need to build up some muscles of your own Tails."

Tails stood up, recovering. "You don't need muscles when you have brain power."

"Only a weakling like you would say that." Knuckles scoffed.

"Um, guys? I'm really glad you came and all but can you stop fighting? We're sort of in the middle of a fight here." Sonic said.

Tails nodded. "That's why we came. We thought we could help you guys out. But man was that mountain cold; I've still got frost on my tails."

"Well, we're here now, and that's what matters. Let's get down to business." Knuckles said with a grin.

Mario picked up his hammer and nodded to the two newcomers. They joined the circle and faced outward against the dumbfounded goblins.

"Don't just stand there! ATTACK!" Ganondorf roared.

The goblins snapped out of their trance and advanced upon the seven friends. Again, they started fighting, but with new resolve. Their power had come back to them through a mysterious essence called… friendship. Actually, no, they were still hopelessly outnumbered, even with Knuckles' firm fists and Tails'… er, twisty tails?(Alliteration's hard.)

"Guys, we're still hopelessly outnumbered, even with my firm fists."

"And my twisty tail spin attack!" Tails called.

"Yeah, whatever. Either way, if we don't do something different, we're going to fall." Knuckles said as he did an uppercut on two different goblins at the same time.

"Don't worry. I made a failsafe plan, just in case we were in a tight squeeze." Tails said cheerfully. He pulled out a box with a giant red button with big friendly letters saying 'Don't Press.'

"Tails, why did you put, 'Don't Press' on that big red button?" Sonic asked.

"Because if you press it, something really bad happens." Tails explained.

"Really? What happens?" Link asked as he slashed at some goblins that were getting too close.

"Once you press this button, everything within 1000 feet of the button spontaneously explodes." Tails said reaching for the button.

"Wait! Wouldn't that include us?" Kirby yelled waving his arms.

Tails looked at him and lifted his finger. "I press. Kukukukukukuku."

"What was that?" Sonic said looking weirdly at the fox boy.

"Oh, just a reference that no one will get." Tails said. (If you do get that reference, please message me so I can congratulate you on being an awesome person.)

Tails pressed the button.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH… Hey, we're not blowing up." Link said looking around.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it only explodes five minutes after you press the button." Tails said smiling.

"You're telling me, that we only have five minutes to get out of this castle before we all die?" Kirby asked.

"Actually, now we only have four minutes."

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Sonic yelled.

Link quickly slashed Zelda's ropes, freeing her. Just as Sonic raced for the door, Link stopped him.

"Wait! We have to get Ganondorf too. Remember, we need to interrogate him." He yelled.

"But he's across the room, by the time we get through all those goblins, our four minutes will be up." Sonic said, looking from the door to Link.

"Three minutes."

Sonic held his head in frustration. "If only I hadn't lost my speed, then I'd be able to race there and back before you could blink." Then he looked at Zelda. "Hey, you can get my run back, can't you? C'mon, you have to. Please?"

Zelda looked at him blankly. "Get your run back. I'm not exactly sure what you mean."

Sonic sighed. "I used to be able to run at sonic speed before I was shot with some goop gun that prevented me from running at my full capability, so it would be really great if you could save our lives and give me my run back."

"Okay, I'll try." Zelda said.

"Yeah, Chatot, Knuckles, Mario, and I will hold the goblins off like we've been doing this entire time. It'd be really nice if you could get down here Link and assist us." Kirby panted.

"Right." Link said hurriedly as he joined them in the fray.

"Two and a half." Said Tails, who was getting scared now.

Zelda closed her eyes and moved her hands in fancy motions.

"_Oh hedgehog of the brightest blue,_

_You need what you once had, it's true,_

_So I will call upon my magic to say,_

_Give him what he needs, on this troubled day,_

_Agility of the light above,_

_Rest on this hedgehog, like a dove."_

A light formed in between Zelda's hands. She pushed her hands forward, catapulting the light onto Sonic. It engulfed him, and then disappeared.

"Two minutes."

"I-I feel… different. I think it worked! Thanks Zelda. See you in a blink."

Sonic rushed off through the goblin army with his renewed speed. He reached Ganondorf in less than a second.

"You have to come with me." Sonic said calmly.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Ganondorf growled. He aimed a punch at Sonic, but by the time he threw it, Sonic had move to his other side.

"Ganondorf, you are really slow. There's no way you can hit me. Now," he grabbed Ganondorf's arm. "you are coming with me."

Sonic rushed off with Ganondorf in tow, only moving slightly slower back to the group of heroes.

"I'm back." He said, gladly showing the struggling Ganondorf to everyone.

Zelda eyed him coldly. "I think he needs to know what it's like to be tied up." She created another light and threw it at Ganondorf. The light elongated into a shining coil of rope, binding Ganondorf up.

"That's all good and everything, but we only have one minute to escape before this castle goes boom." Tails said through chattering teeth.

"Darn it Tails, why did you press that button?" Kirby yelled at him.

"No time for arguing, we've got to get out of here!" Link yelled back.

"I can't carry you all out of here!" Sonic cried.

Chatot, or, the thing Chatot was at that moment, nodded its skull head. It glowed again and transformed into… Latios! It motioned for Knuckles, Tails, Zelda, Ganondorf and Link to get on its back.

"Right, remember how fast Latios moves? We'll get out of here in no time." Link said hopping onto its back and helping Zelda on. They heaved the bound Ganondorf on last, then Latios sped out of the room.

Sonic grabbed Mario and Kirby's hands. "Hold on, things are about to go up to sonic speed." He yelled. They sped off after Latios, leaving the goblins to mill about, confused on what to do next.

Sonic soon caught up to Latios as they sped through narrow hallways.

"Guys, we only have thirty seconds before things get really explodey!" Tails yelled over from the back of Latios.

Latios suddenly let out a huge beam from its mouth at a nearby wall. It blew apart, revealing the bleak outside world. Sonic's eyes widened.

"Hey, I can run fast, but not fast enough to walk on air." Sonic said as they approached the hole.

"You're gonna have to try." Wheezed a windblown Kirby as he flew behind Sonic.

Latios raced out of the gap in the wall. Sonic reached the ledge, and without slowing down, jumped off with all his might. He managed to grab Latios' dangling arm in mid-air. With a grunt from the added weight, Latios moved slowly away from the castle.

Tails was looking at a watch on his hand. "5…4…3…2…1…0."

_BOOOM_


	24. Ch 5 Pt 1: A Day in the Forest

_Chapter 5 Part 1_

**_A Day in the Forest_**

_In that dark castle we all know and love…_

"Ganondorf has failed. Not that I didn't expect it. In the end, I knew only you would remain by my side, Mr. L."

The green masked figure bowed to the voice. "I will never fail you, boss. I'll take care of Mr. Jumpsallthetime like nobody's business. I will never lose to that red plumber. You can count on me boss."

"Yes I know I can. Now, the heroes will be at the gate soon, so you must prepare. It will not be easy. They have grown to their maximum strength. But I know you will not fail, especially with your secret weapon."

Mr. L chuckled. "If all goes according to plan boss, I won't even need to use my secret weapon. I've learned from the others' past mistakes. Those heroes won't even get a glimpse of the gate."

"I trust they won't, Mr. L. You are my most promising minion. You alone remain loyal to me, like a green chihuahua to its evil master. Together, we will rule all the dimensions."

"Okay boss. I'll go and see to the traps I set. The next time I see you will be when I bring those heroes to your feet." Mr. L walked off into the darkness of the dark castle.

"Not even the brainwashed Mr. L can foresee my intentions. Doopliss!"

The white figure materialized out of the inky darkness.

"You called, my lord?"

"Doopliss, I want you at the front of the castle. Just in case Mr. L fails in his duty. If the heroes reach Distortion Valley, you know what to do."

The white figure bowed. "Of course, my lord. I will use all my skills to prevent them from reaching you. I will not fail."

As Doopliss disappeared, the voice chuckled to itself.

"I'm waiting for you Mario. Hurry, you wouldn't want to disappoint me, now would you?"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Latios landed safely in a forest glade, and all of his passengers hopped off and congratulated each other on their narrow escape.

"Well, that was a bit too close for my liking." Zelda sighed as she hopped off Latios on to the forest floor.

"I agree. What gets me is that it was unnecessarily close." Kirby said, glaring at Tails.

"And it's all thanks to me. We would probably have a hoard of goblins on our tails right now if it weren't for my super bomb." Tails said proudly.

"Tails, you're sure you're not a girl right?" Knuckles growled.

"Yup. As sure as… Uh oh." Tails backed away slowly from Knuckles.

"Come here Tails, I need to congratulate you on your little bomb. It was ingenious." Knuckles said walking slowly towards the frightened fox.

"No that's all right; you don't have to congratulate me. I know perfectly well that I did awesome. Really it's- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Tails ran around the clearing with Knuckles charging after him.

"Right, while they're busy, we can interrogate Ganondorf here." Link said, heaving Ganondorf off of Latios.

Latios changed back into a panting Chatot. "Thank… you… for… taking… that… big… lug… off… my… back. None of you are ever going to ride on my back again."

"Quit your whining. We've got a big fat lug to interrogate." Sonic said.

"Right. Who are you taking orders from?" Link pointed his sword at Ganondorf.

Ganondorf turned up his nose and ignored him.

"That's not going to work." Kirby said. He went up to Ganondorf. "You can tell me. I'm your friend."

Ganondorf laughed. "The good cop bad cop thing? You guys are pathetic."

"Here, let me try." Zelda went up to Ganondorf and, once again, formed light in her hand and threw it on to Ganondorf.

"What did that do, _Squawk_?" Chatot asked Zelda.

"It's a magic spell that forces the victim to tell the truth." Zelda explained.

"That sounds useful. Let's try it out. Did you, or did you not work alongside King DeDeDe, Darkrai, and Dr. Eggman?" Sonic asked.

Ganondorf looked like he was struggling. "I-I-I d-d-d-did." He finally gasped. He went limp as if that had taken exceptional effort.

Kirby jumped up and down. "This is exciting. What's your favorite colour?"

"M-Magenta." Ganondorf winced.

Everyone broke out into laughter. (Except for Zelda, who is above such things, Knuckles, who was too busy chasing Tails to notice anything, and Tails, who was too busy avoiding Knuckles to notice anything.)

"Do you have an item that you take with you to bed every night?" Chatot asked, giggling.

"I-I have a… blanket with a big yellow star on it." Ganondorf looked like he was in physical pain.

Link burst out laughing. "That is priceless. But really guys, we should get down to business now… After one more question. What is your inner most dream?"

Ganondorf looked coldly at Link with a loathing mostly reserved for in-laws. "You'll pay for this Link. My inner most dream is-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Tails came crashing through the interrogation. "Make way, I've got a madman after me!" He hid behind Link.

Knuckles rushed in, looking around. "C'mon Tails, I've only had the pleasure of punching you once. Just a few more and it will all be over, I promise." He spotted Tails' two tails waving out from behind Link. "Gotcha." He smiled.

He snuck up behind Tails and grabbed him. "You're coming with me fox boy." He said as he dragged him out of the clearing.

"No, no! Aren't any of you going to help me? After I saved your hides? You are all too cruel! See if I'll ever help you guys again. No. Noooooooooooooooo!" Tails' screams faded into the distance as he disappeared with Knuckles into the forest.

"Think they'll be alright?" Kirby asked, staring after them.

"Sure, there isn't anything dangerous in these woods." Link comforted.

"Except maybe Knuckles." Chuckled Sonic.

"Ummmm, we still have to question Ganondorf, _Squawk_." Chatot notified the distracted group.

"Oh, right. Umm, where was I? Oh yes. Does your commanding officer have a hideout; and if so, how do we get there?" Link asked Ganondorf.

"He resides in a place called Distortion Valley. It is a place in between all dimensions. There is no way to get there by normal means. However, there is a portal that takes you directly there, hidden in the Mushroom Kingdom. But beware; it is guarded by a ferocious beast, and its master. They are the most trusted servants of my so called 'commanding officer.'"

"Who is your superior? What's his name? Do we know him?" Kirby asked eagerly.

Ganondorf looked at him with a tiny glimmer of fear in his eyes. It vanished almost instantly as Ganondorf started talking again. "My superior is someone who has transcended the boundaries of power. He is an extremely powerful and twisted being, capable of rendering entire dimensions to his will. He seems mad, but behind his crazy exterior, is a cool and calculating mastermind. I do not know if any of you know of him. His name is—" But before he could speak this terrible being's name, there was a tremor and a bright flash of light. When the light faded, Ganondorf was gone.

"What was that?" Sonic exclaimed.

"I don't know, but it seemed pretty familiar to me." Kirby said thinking to himself.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, it seems familiar to me too, _Squawk_." Chatot agreed.

"Well, whatever it was, it took Ganondorf with it. And we were just about to learn the name of his boss too. Just our luck." Link scowled.

"Well, at least we know where he is now. Let's head to the Mushroom Kingdom right away and finish this." Sonic said, stretching his legs. "I'm keen to get running again."

"Waitwaitwaitwait. We don't know where the Mushroom Kingdom is. Since the dimensions got messed up, it could be anywhere." Kirby pointed out.

"Well, we have to start searching someplace. I suggest that we go back to Meta Knight's cave, _Squawk_." Chatot said.

"And do what? How is going back to Meta Knight's cave going to help us find the Mushroom Kingdom? I still think we should-." Sonic stopped talking when Mario tapped him on the shoulder.

Pointing into the forest where Tails and Knuckles had gone off to, Mario nodded to Sonic.

"What? You think Tails and Knuckles can help? Well, it couldn't hurt to ask them I guess." Sonic shrugged.

"Well, let's go look for them then." Link said, walking into the dark woods.

"Ummm, Link, they went that way, _Squawk_." Chatot shook his head as he pointed in the opposite direction.

"Er, I knew that. Just testing you guys. You all passed. Heh, heh." Link spun around and followed Chatot's pointed wing.

"Again with the testing us thing? Sigh…" Kirby followed Link with the others into the forest to look for Tails and Knuckles.

_After a long time of hopeless searching in a meaningless forest…_

"This is absolutely hopeless! We've been searching for five long hours in this meaningless forest! We're never going to find those two." Sonic yelled.

"Maybe if you spent less effort keeping track of how long we've been in here, and more effort in finding Tails and Knuckles, we probably would have found them by now." Kirby growled through gritted teeth.

"Both of you be quiet, _Squawk_! Do you hear that?" They all stopped talking and listened.

"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Okay, I think I've had enough now Knuckles. No. NO! Not the branch, not the branch! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah- Ouch. Ouch. Ouch."

"Sounds like someone's being tortured." Sonic said decisively.

"Or maybe it's just some wild animal." Kirby said.

Chatot narrowed his eyes. "A _talking_ wild animal, which just happens to know Knuckles' name and speaks in Tails' voice, _Squawk_?"

Kirby shrugged. "You never know."

"Why don't we stop guessing and go find out for ourselves?" Zelda sighed.

Link looked at her. "Er… Right. Let's go."

They pushed forward through the foliage, the screams of pain growing louder and louder. Finally, they came out into a clearing and saw a mildly scary scene, or a mildly hilarious scene, depending on what kind of person you are.

Knuckles was standing on one side of the clearing with a pile of giant pinecones next to him. He was tossing one up and down, like a pitcher at the pitcher's mound.

On the other side of the clearing, Tails was panting for his life, wincing from scrapes where he was a bit slow in dodging the prickly projectiles.

"C'mon Knuckles. I think I've learned my lesson now. Can you please just let it go?" Tails begged.

Knuckles shook his head. "Not until I've emptied this pile beside me Tails. Thirty more to go."

Knuckles then whipped the pinecone in his hand at lightning speed towards Tails. Luckily Tails dived to the ground just in time and it hit a nearby tree, causing it to topple over from the impact. That tree hit another tree which hit another tree in a domino effect that left a lot of woodland animals homeless.

Spotting the group, Knuckles picked up another pinecone and tossed it to Link. "I was wondering when you guys were going to join us. There are still plenty of pinecones to go around." He picked up another one and took aim.

Tails looked up pleadingly at Link. "Hey, glad you're here. Could you rescue me before he manages a direct hit with one of those bullet shots? He was only throwing twigs before, but then he found those gigantic pinecones. It would be really nice if I could go on living for a couple more years."

Knuckles drew back his arm. "I'll stop his whining. This one ain't gonna miss."

"Um, Knuckles? That sounds great, but we have to get our priorities straight. We've got some dimensions to set right, remember?" Sonic said casually.

Knuckles reluctantly dropped his pinecone. "In my books, this _is_ the number one priority. But, if you say we have more important things to do, so be it."

Tails sighed. "Thank goodness, I think that one was actually going to hit me."

Mario ran over to Tails and helped him up. Tails dusted himself off.

"Thanks guys, I owe you one." Tails said smiling.

"Actually, I think we might take you up on that offer." Kirby walked up beside Mario. "We need a little assistance finding the way to the Mushroom Kingdom, and we were wondering if you could help us with that."

"Finding the Mushroom Kingdom? To find it with all these messed up dimensions, we might need to go back to my lab." Tails said as he walked to where the rest of the group was listening intently.

"Your lab? Where's that, _Squawk_?" Chatot asked.

"It's in Mobius, I've got this lab right by the sea, it's really beautiful. There's this sandy white beach and some waving palm trees. It's my happy place." Tails said with a glazed look in his eyes, basking in the memory of his tropical haven.

"In Mobius? That means we have to walk over the Termina mountains again. That isn't something to look forward too." Kirby moaned.

Knuckles walked up and scoffed at the pink puffball. "It's only a bit of weather. You'd have to be pretty weak to let a blizzard turn you away."

"Actually, I sent a signal to the Tornado via remote control right after we landed in this forest. It's flying on auto pilot towards us as we speak. It should be here any minute."

"The Tornado? Are you sure that can hold this many people Tails? It can barely fit two." Sonic raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"What's the Tornado?" Link looked from Sonic to Tails.

Knuckles answered him. "The Tornado is Sonic's plane. Tails looks after it for him and often tinkers with it. If we had flown it here instead of _walking_, we could've have been here a _lot_ faster." He finished through gritted teeth.

Tails shook his head. "It was undergoing reconstruction_, remember_. I was expanding it, so it could fit more people." Turning to the heroes and Zelda, he explained. "When we walked over to Mobius from Meta Knight's cave with Peach, I managed to salvage it from the remains of Eggman's base. Not the invisible one, but the one he had before the dimensions got all messed up. I brought it to my lab and started patching it up. I was just about finished when Knuckles started getting restless. He wanted to follow you guys and get in on some of the action. I had to go with him, so I left Peach with my automated assistants to finish off the job."

"Well, if the plane's a bit small, I'm fine with flying. It'll be good to spread my wings after walking on the ground for so long with this lot, _Squawk_" Chatot offered.

Tails nodded and turned around. "I think I can hear it coming now."

The group looked to the sky as the buzzing of an airplane grew steadily louder and louder. Soon, there came into sight a plane descending into the forest clearing. Everyone gasped!

"Ummmm… Tails?" Sonic looked at him strangely, than glanced back at the plane now parked in front of them.

Tails walked up to the plane and passed his hand over it in horror. "PEEAAAAAAAACH!" He cried out hitting his hand against the shocking pink plane with even pinker peaches with kiss marks drawn on them.

_To be continued…_


	25. Ch 5 Pt 2: When the Fox is Away

_Chapter 5 Part 2_

**_When The Fox Is Away…_**

It was a quiet flight in the newly modified Tornado. The air crackled with tension. The passengers stared nervously at each other as the pilot, Tails, glared grimly ahead trying to ignore the sun glinting off the bright pink airplane. Close by, Chatot flew through the blue sky, watching the airplane with quiet apprehension.

He shook his head. "I'm glad I can fly, _Squawk_. I'd much rather be soaring freely through the sky than stuck in that time-bomb. "

On board the Tornado, Tails was trying to contact Peach.

"Hello? Peach? I need to speak with you, now. Hello? Anyone? Darn!" He pressed a button on the control panel and gripped the steering tightly. "She's not answering. When I get a hold of her…"

"Uh, Tails. We could just paint over it when we get back. It's not that big of a deal." Sonic suggested hesitantly.

Tails answered without turning his head. "Well Sonic, everything would be fine and dandy, _if_ things were as you say! However, it is not only the paint job that Peach has messed with, but also the controls! I don't know how, but she's managed to turn the energy turret into a flower planter! How in the world are we going to plant flowers in the sky! I don't know what she was thinking. She probably _wasn't _thinking. She has also highly restricted our speed by putting 5,000 tons of _jewellery_ in the storage compartment! What she thinks we could use jewellery for is beyond me! She even managed to paint the engine! That paint will eventually peel off and clog the carburetor! When that happens, this plane will explode! I don't know why my robot assistants let her do this. They are specifically programmed with my preferences, and trust me, these are _not_ my preferences!" Tails finished, gasping for breath.

Sonic blinked. "Whatever you say little buddy. We'll just deal with it when we get there I guess."

Knuckles snickered silently but stopped when he received a silencing stare from Sonic.

"Speaking of which, are we there yet?" Link asked.

Tails gritted his teeth. "Yes, we have arrived. Feel free to exit the plane at any time. Preferably now."

Link opened his mouth to say something, looked over the side of the plane, and firmly shut it again.

There were a few minutes of silence, then Link spoke again.

"How about now?"

Tails sighed. "We'll be there in a ten minutes. Just… entertain yourself until we get there." He finally said after a pause.

Sonic sat back and closed his eyes, while Kirby watched Chatot do lazy loops in the sky. Link looked around and sighed. He unsheathed his sword and started twirling it around, which was not a very good idea, seeing as how small the airplane was. Zelda was staring at it apprehensively, but none of the others noticed.

"Er… Link, I don't think you should be playing around with that." Zelda finally said.

Link looked at her in disbelief. "What, this? Why not? It's perfectly safe. I have excellent swordsmanship. Wherever I want this sword to go, it will go, and wherever I don't want it to go, it won't." he said with a confident smile.

Suddenly a voice came from behind Zelda. "Hey Tails, is that your lab down there, _Squawk_?"

Startled by Chatot's voice, Zelda spun around. Her arm struck Link's hand and knocked his sword out of his grip. Link scrambled for it, but it was too late. The sword sailed over the plane's edge and plummeted down to the far off ground.

Link and Zelda looked over the edge and saw the sword disappear into a thick forest below.

Kirby glanced down to, and then looked at Link. "So, master swordsman," he said, "why, may I ask, did you want your sword down in that forest? After all you did say that wherever you want your sword to go, it will-"

"Yeah yeah, I know what I said, thank you very much Kirby." Link grumbled. He then turned to Tails. "We need to land this plane right now."

"Already on it. We've arrived." Tails slowly descended through a huge cloud. When they came out of it, they saw a truly beautiful sight. There was a turquoise ocean that stretched far into the horizon, where they could see the setting sun. At the water's edge, there was a sandy white beach winding its way along the sea line. Farther back, there was a large building on a rocky outcrop. Palm trees surrounded it, their giant leaves waving in the sea breeze. On the sea side of the building was a long stretch of flat ground, with an even line of palm trees on either side.

When they were close enough, to distinguish the coconuts on the trees, Tails pressed a button on the control panel. Suddenly, the flat ground opened up to reveal a cement runway. Tails came in nice and slow, holding the plane steady as he aligned it with the runway. They landed safely and came to a stop a short way from the large building.

"Welcome to my laboratory." Tails said proudly. "Once we're inside, I'll locate the Mushroom Kingdom for you, right after I locate the Mushroom Princess."

Tails rushed into his lab, with the rest of the group following behind.

Knuckles shook his head. "Great, now we have to deal with those annoying robots again."

Chatot glanced at him questioningly, but Knuckles didn't elaborate.

Link was looking over his shoulder at the expansive forest. "As soon as possible, we need to go get my sword. I feel all empty and defenceless without it."

"Relax Link, we'll get it on our way to the Mushroom Kingdom." Kirby soothed.

Link still didn't look convinced. Suddenly, they heard a cry from inside the laboratory. Everyone rushed inside to find the place in ruins. Papers were strewn everywhere, computer panels were broken and sparking, and there were dents in every single thing made of metal. Most of all, there was no sign of Peach. Tails was scurrying around, trying to pick up everything while calling for the missing princess.

"Peach, hello? Anyone? Rob? Tob? Cob? Phillip? Is anyone here?" Tails hung his head. "It's no use, there's no one here."

"Thank goodness for that!" Knuckles gave a sigh of relief.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Who are Rob, Tob, Cob and whatever you were saying?"

Tails sighed. "They're my assistant bots. I had built them recently to help me around the lab. I programmed all the necessary protocols into them, and _voila_, a perfect robotic assistant. Too many times have I found myself overwhelmed with lab work, and building some assistants seemed like the perfect idea. They were practically flawless! And now they're gone, along with whatever ransacked this place."

Sonic winked. "Hey, we'll look for em', don't you worry. We'll come straight back with Peach and your bots in tow. Then we'll set off for the Mushroom Kingdom. That sound all right gang?" He asked everyone else.

Mario nodded, Chatot leaned over to Kirby and whispered. "Who made _him_ the leader, _Squawk_?" And Link just shrugged and said. "I need to find my sword anyway. I can look for that on the way."

"I'll stay here, in case those thugs come back. Rest assured that all your scattered paper work and dented machinery will be safe with me." Knuckles said with a chuckle.

Sonic nodded and then turned to Tails again. "You stay here, we'll be back before you know it." He then gestured for everyone to follow, and walked out the lab door. Everyone quickly followed, trying to catch up to Sonic. Zelda tried to follow them out the door, but Link stopped her.

"Er… I think it would be a better idea for you to stay here Princess. It will be very dangerous in there, and I don't want to put you in unnecessary danger."

Zelda crossed her arms, but as her eyes caught the beautiful beach, she gave in. She stood beside Tails as he waved goodbye to them from the doorway.

"Good luck!" He called.

Sonic nodded at them as he waited for the group to catch up. "Now, where do you guys suggest we start looking?" Sonic asked as they all assembled around him.

Kirby rolled his eyes. "Maybe if you spent less time pretending to be the leader, and more time taking in your surroundings, you would notice the trail of papers leading into the woods over there."

Kirby nodded towards the tattered trail of looseleaf leading toward the foreboding woods. At that exact moment, a scream echoed from the depths of the forest, and a group of crows scattered from the topmost branches of their trees. Everyone looked at each other in alarm, and then, as if on a hidden command, took off as one towards the dark wood.

_To be continued…_


	26. Ch 5 Pt 3: These Are the Droids You  ect

_Chapter 5 Part 3_

**_These Are the Droids You Are Looking For_**

The group of heroes made their way through the forest at a surprising pace, the scream having motivated them. As they got deeper and deeper into the forest, the darkness grew more and more oppressive. It penetrated the leaves and the trees. Even their own clothes seemed darkened by the murk. There came another scream, closer this time. Link nodded in the direction it was coming from and took the lead. Sonic pushed to get out in front of him and Link pushed back. As they fought for the position of 'leader', Mario went around them to the head of the pack.

Chatot rolled his eyes. "Those two are about as mature as a couple of young Spearows, _Squawk._"

Kirby looked at him. "Spearows?" Chatot shook his head as if to say never mind. "Come on, Mario's leaving us behind, _Squawk_."

They hurried past the feuding pair to catch up with Mario. Sonic and Link were completely unaware of being deserted by their comrades and were still fighting to be in the "lead." Suddenly, they both tripped simultaneously and slammed into a tree. They fell to the ground with a thud.

Link got up first and rubbed his head while looking around. "Hey, where'd the others go?"

Sonic got up after him, trying to steady his spinning skull. "I don't know. Maybe I can help you look for them after my brain gets off this merry-go-round. Oof, this headache is worse than the one I get from one of Eggman's speeches." He shook his head to clear it and then took in his surroundings.

Suddenly, they both heard the same scream again. Sonic and Link looked at each other and then rushed off in the right direction. Quite unexpectedly, they broke out into a clearing with unusual company in the middle of it.

Mario, Chatot, and Kirby were already there, speechless at what was before them. There was a green robot lying on the ground with a sword sticking out of its square head. Kneeling beside it, were two identical robots. They were both trying to extricate the sword without damaging the impaled robot further. Running around the three robots was the source of the screaming, a bright pink robot with a triangular head. It was flailing its arms wildly while giving off the occasional scream.

"Guess Peach got to the screaming one. Look at that odd shade of pink." Kirby noted.

"I wouldn't say it's a pink, _Squawk_. Maybe more of a magenta. Perhaps with a hue of red in there as well, _Squawk_."

Mario rolled his eyes.

"I think the procedure is finally nearing its terminal." Said one robot in a… well, robotic tone.

"I concur, Tob. Cob should be up and functioning in no time." The other robot replied in the same tone.

"AAAAHHH!" The pink robot screeched again.

"Oh, clam up Phillip. You are a robot, I do not think you can even _be_ squeamish. It is not in your programming."

"Just ignore him Rob. Let us finalize our repairs, and then we must find Mistress Mushroom."

The two robots started pressing on Cob's body. They worked their way up to his head and then one of them grabbed the sword. He pulled it out and immediately the other robot pressed a button on Cob's mid-section. The hole where the sword had been sealed itself and Cob sat up. He shook his head.

"I say, Rob and Tob, that was a most grueling experience for myself. I give you my gratitudes. I say, what's wrong with Phillip?"

"Phillip took in information about the weapon implanted in your apex region, and lost_ his_ head. He has worked into his programming that he is somehow squeamish at the sight of violence."

"I see. We will perhaps need to present him to Master Tails. I say, who are they?"

All at once, Tob, Cob, Rob, and Phillip looked at the staring group of heroes.

Kirby giggled. "These guys are hilarious."

Sonic looked around. "I guess these are the robots Tails was talking about. Hey Link, isn't that your sword over there?" Sonic pointed to the discarded sword on the ground.

Link looked over and gasped. "Why, yes it is. Well, what luck! We found both my sword and Tails' robots at the same time." Link went over to grab his sword, but one of the square headed robots stopped him.

"You are associated with Master Tails? Who, may I ask, are you five?" it queried.

Link took the liberty of introducing everyone. "Well, I'm Link, and that's Sonic, Kirby, Chatot, and finally Mario." He pointed at them respectively.

Then another one of the square headed robots spoke. "Pleased to make your acquaintances. My name is Rob."

"And I am called Tob."

"And I am Cob."

"_Je m'appelle Phillipe!_" Said the pink robot.

"Um, what's wrong with Phillip over there?" Kirby asked.

One of the robots shook its head. "Our apologies, but Phillip is what you might call… defective. He is a charming sort once you become familiar with him however."

"_Yo puedo hablar español_!"

Link raised an eyebrow. "Charming… Right." He picked up his sword, spun it in his hand and sheathed it quite fancily.

"I say, does that blade that impaled my head belong to you, good sir?" asked Cob.

"Er, yes it does. Sorry about that. It sorta dropped out of my hand when we were flying over the forest. You know how it is." Link said nervously.

"I say, it is quite fine. It was not that big of a complication. Master Tails built a self-repair program into our central scheme. I say, it is quite easy to repair a minor wound such as the one your sword imparted to me." Cob proudly rubbed the spot on his head where the hole had been.

Mario tapped Link on the shoulder and made a figure of a crown on his head with his hands.

"Oh, right!" Link turned to the robots. "If you guys are here, then where is Princess Peach?

"Ah, the Mistress Mushroom that was entrusted to our care while Master Tails was away. She was taken away by some minor foot soldiers that seemed to be made of wood." Answered one of the robots.

"What! Are they the ones who took you guys and ransacked Tails' laboratory?"

"Indeed. We managed to escape however but were unable to rescue the Mistress Mushroom. Master Tails installed minor defense systems in us in case of emergencies. Except in the case of Phillip. He has major defense systems installed. I don't really know what happened in his manufacturing." answered another.

"_Phasellus quis leo tristia!_" Phillip yelled ecstatically.

"Well, if the Princess was kidnapped, then we better go look for her right away, _Squawk_!" panicked Chatot with Mario nodding vigorously.

"I say, quite right brightly coloured creature. We will lead the way. We managed to plant a tracer on the Mistress Mushroom before all this foulness took place. I say, we do like to be prepared after all."

"Well that's convenient. Take us to her then." Sonic gestured for them to take the lead.

"Absolutely, Master Sonic." The robots formed a line with Phillip at the back. They moved into the forest at a steady pace.

"Master Sonic… I like the sound of that." He said with a smile.

Phillip turned around. "_Sbrigati lento riccio_!" He waved at Sonic.

Mario stifled a snort of laughter and quickly followed the robots. Link looked at Sonic.

"What do you think he just said?" Link asked Sonic, looking confusedly at Mario.

Sonic, who had not noticed Mario's supressed laugh, smiled even wider. "I don't know, but it must've been something nice. I'm starting to really like these robots."

They delved deeper into the dark woods, with the robots slowly but surely tracking Peach to the center of the forest.

They met no resistance… yet.

_To be continued…_


	27. Ch 5 Pt 4: Ballad of the Robot

_Chapter 5 Part 4_

**_Ballad of the Robot_**

"_Tra-la tra-la, we're off to find a princess._

_Tra-la tra-la, we're off to find a friend._

_Tra-la tra-la, with the wind behind us. _

_Tra-la tra-la, we're off to find a friend._"

The robots sang joyously as they led the five heroes through the forest, with Phillip giving the occasional, arbitrary "_HONK!_"

Chatot looked at Kirby and winced. "I've never heard robots sing before, _Squawk_. This is definitely a unique experience for me."

Kirby's eyes widened. "Unique? Are you kidding me? It's as if they're_ trying_ to be off-tune. And I don't think it's possible to sing in a robotic tone."

Link shook his head and pulled his cap over his ears. "Well, if it is possible, these four are definitely doing it right now. Ugh."

Sonic strutted along, bouncing to the beat of the robots' tune (even though it really didn't have one.) "I don't know," he said. "it's kinda catchy if you ask me. Don't you think so Mario?" He elbowed Mario with a grin.

Mario just smiled at Sonic, nodded, then proceeded to stick his fingers even further into his ears.

"See, Mario likes it. You guys just need to be more open-minded about things." Sonic smiled and then started to sing with the robots. He was terribly off-tune… He fit in perfectly.

The others just held their heads and hoped that they would reach Peach soon.

_Many improvised verses later…_

The robots suddenly stopped singing. Everyone looked at them in shock, and, except in the case of Sonic, with relief in their eyes.

"What's wrong guys?" Sonic asked, who was a bit indignant. He had just started to get the hang of the chorus.

"We are nearing the Mistress Mushroom's homing signal."

" And that means we are also nearing hostile territory."

"And I say, it would be terrible to be making a racket when the enemy is lurking about us. It might give away our presence."

Phillip nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Sonic said a bit disappointed.

Everyone sighed and let their hands fall from their ears. They continued on with more caution, looking behind themselves nervously, constantly peering into the darkness around them. But the forest was quiet, and it seemed that they were the only living things there (besides the plant-life of course). Finally, they came to a huge oak, the trees dense and looming around them.

"This is where the Mistress Mushroom should be situated." Confirmed Tob.

"Here? But there's no one here. All I see is that big oak…. A really big oak." Sonic followed the tree's trunk upwards until it was engulfed by the darkness.

"Well our sensors are pointing directly in front of us." Rob pointed to the bottom of the oak.

"I say, is there something blinking at the bottom of that massive trunk, or are my visual readings deceiving me?" Cob queried

Phillip stared and nodded. "_Feicim é freisin! Feicim é freisin!_"

"I think I can see it too, Phillip and Cob. Let us go investigate."

As the robots moved forward, Kirby looked around suspiciously. Ever since they had come to the big oak, something had been bugging him. It was as if there was a foreboding presence hidden here and it was just waiting to spring at them unexpectedly. Suddenly, something triggered his memory and he held the others back from following the robots.

"Rob! Cob! Tob! Phillip! Get away from that tree." Kirby yelled.

Rob, Cob, and Tob stopped in their tracks, but Phillip kept going, entranced by the blinking light at the foot of the gigantic oak. Phillip picked it up and waved at the others.

"_Ik heb het._" He started to yell, but suddenly, the ground started shaking. A huge face appeared on the giant oak. It looked down at the robots and took in a huge breath. The tree then blew as hard as he could. The robots went flying back into the woods and out of sight from the sudden gust of wind. The others managed to get into the foliage and were protected from the oak's sudden attack.

"What in the world was that?" Sonic looked around their cover and peered at the now silent oak, the face having disappeared.

Kirby spoke up. "His name is Whispy Woods. I've faced him many times before - back in Dreamland. It seems with the dimensions all twisted up, he was transported into this dark forest. I don't know if it has anything to do with being in a different place or not, but Whispy seems a lot stronger than he normally is."

Link stared suspiciously at the oak. "So what do you suggest we do Kirby?"

Kirby shrugged. "Well, the only thing I can think of is to just-" But he was cut off by the sudden sound of a trumpet. They all turned confusedly in the direction of the loud, blaring noise.

Out of the woods came Phillip, who was making the trumpet noise, followed by Rob, Tob, and Cob. They were charging straight at Whispy Woods!

"Come on lads! Master Tails instructed us to protect the Mistress Mushroom, and if this beastly thing has taken her, than to battle we must go!" The four metallic musketeers assaulted the massive tree, smacking their iron fists against its trunk with all the strength in their tiny bodies.

Link pulled out his sword and stepped out of the hiding place. "I don't know about you guys, but if those four are going to upstage us in battle, they might as well be the ones on this adventure instead of us. To battle!" Link jumped towards the fray, which looked rather odd, since the oak seemed to not even notice the robots' feeble attempts to hurt it; the face had not even shown itself again!

Kirby and Mario quickly followed to assist Link. Sonic tried to do the same, but Chatot landed on his head to stop him. "_Squawk_! I don't think they'll need our help Sonic. It's already pretty crowded around the base of the tree, _Squawk_. I say we look for the princess, starting with up there." Chatot pointed towards the top of the giant oak, which was out of sight.

Sonic shrugged. "Whatever you say little buddy. Although I would like to get a whack at ol' Whispy…" He shrugged again, then jumped up into a nearby tree. Chatot flew alongside him as they worked their way up towards the top.

Meanwhile, Mario, Kirby, and the robots were frantically pounding at Whispy Woods with all they could muster, but their endeavors seemed to have no effect on the giant oak. Link smiled at them and shook his head.

"Come on guys, use your heads. When has anyone ever felled a tree with their bare hands, let alone a tree that has a mind of its own? _This_ is how you attack the plant-life."

Link brandished his sword and swung it with vigor at Whispy's trunk. The sword stuck into the tree with a dull _Thunk_! There was a moment of silence when everyone stared at the embedded sword, then the tree started to shake violently. The branches and leaves reverberated with the vibrating throes of the immense oak. Whispy's face reappeared on the tree, but this time he looked a lot angrier. He stared down at Link with a grimace that looked like it could melt bones. Link chuckled nervously, and then desperately tried to tug his sword free, but to no avail. Whipsy roared and shook his leafy boughs. Apples began to fall from the faraway tree tops down below, pelting Whispy's assailants.

Kirby glared at Link. "Nice job _Master Swordsman_, now you've made him angry!"

Link glared back. "What did you expect us to do? 'Oh, hi Whispy Woods, sorry to bother you, but we were wondering if we could just knock you down in order to save a princess that you took from us. We hope you don't get angry, maybe you could just close your eyes, and we'll be real quick, okay?' And anyway, look on the bright side; he's only attacking us with small harmless apples."

Just then, a rather big apple crashed through the branches of Whispy Woods and landed amongst the group of robots, who were still pounding away at the tough bark.

"Phillip!"

"Oh dear."

"Medic!"

Link looked over at the now frantic machines, and then looked up at the falling apples. He spotted another big apple crashing straight towards him! Link lifted his shield just in time, as the apple clunked into it and bounced away into the forest. Link lowered his shield and gaped at the dent the apple had left in it.

"Harmless apples huh?" Kirby said dryly.

"Oh, stop your sarcasm and help me get my sword back."

Link, along with Mario, darted towards Whispy, avoiding the falling tirade of fruit. Instead of following them though, Kirby waited for an apple to come towards him, and then inhaled it. Instead of swallowing it however, he spit it back up at Whispy. The apple shot out of him like a bullet out of a gun. The apple rammed into Whispy and the tree howled with either pain, rage, or both. While the tree was wailing, the apples stopped for a small period of time, which gave Mario and Link the chance they needed to yank Link's sword out of the bark of the tree. They beat a hasty retreat to where Kirby was standing.

Kirby grinned. "Ever heard of someone falling a tree with apples, Link?"

Link grinned back. "If we're lucky, I'm about to."

"I say, you chaps look to have the situation under control. We'll be retreating to lick our wounds so to speak, so carry on, as you were." Cob, Rob, and Tob then proceeded to carry Phillip away from the clearing.

Whispy had finished howling and was now glaring at the three adventurers with a newfound hate.

"Ready?" Kirby looked at both Mario and Link.

Both of them nodded. "Let's get started then." Kirby smiled slightly.

_Higher up in a nearby tree…_

Chatot fluttered his wings furiously as he ascended towards the leafy top of Whispy Woods, with Sonic close on his tail, jumping from branch to branch and tree to tree.

"How high do you suppose that thing is?" Sonic asked.

"Higher than any tree in my forest, that's for sure, _Squawk_." Chatot looked around. "Peach! Princess Peach, _Squawk_!"

Sonic stopped climbing for a bit to call out as well. "Peach my love! Beautiful Princess of the land of mushrooms! Wherefore art thou, my Princess Peach?"

"Give it a rest Sonic, _Squawk_! If you keep that up, she's gonna end up hiding from us."

"Nonsense, my Peach would never hide from her destined hero!"

"You mean Mario?"

Sonic grumbled to himself quietly and resumed climbing. Chatot followed, laughing at his own wit. They were nearing the top of the tree now, and could almost touch the foliage of Whispy Woods.

"So you think Peach might be in there? How do you know?"

"Call it Pokemon intuition, _Squawk_. There really is only one way to find out though."

They both delved into the leafy exterior and split up in an attempt to find the missing princess. After searching for a few hopeless minutes, they happened to meet up with each other.

"Any luck?" Sonic asked.

"If I had any luck at all, we probably would have restored the dimensions by now."

"You know what I mean."

"No, _Squawk_, I haven't found Peach yet. Maybe she's higher up."

Suddenly, the tree started to shake violently, and the apples that were growing on the branches around them began to fall. "What are they doing down there?" Sonic wondered.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, Whispy doesn't like it. _Squawk_!" Chatot screeched as a small apple fell on his head.

Sonic looked up. "These apples are dangerous. Tell you what. You look for the princess, and I'll take care of these apples so that they don't fall on your noggin."

Chatot nodded, rubbing the bump on his head with his wing, and then took off to look for the princess. Sonic hopped to and fro at lightning speed in an attempt to detach the apples that hadn't already fallen, and throw them out of the bushy top of Whispy Woods, so Chatot could search for Peach in relative peace. Sonic detached a huge apple from a high up branch.

"This could seriously hurt someone if it hit them." Sonic observed, then he threw it out into the world below. He threw another big apple, shortly after. Suddenly, the tree stopped shaking. Sonic looked around, and then abandoned the leftover apples.

"Guess I should go find that birdbrain now." Sonic said to himself. As if on cue, Chatot called to him from somewhere above. "Sonic, up here! I think I found her, _Squawk_!

Sonic quickly made his way up until he spotted the bright colours of his feathered friend. Chatot nodded to a tight clump of branches to the left of their position. Through the thick green leaves, Sonic thought he spotted a flash of a pink dress.

"Peach, my darling. Your hero is here to save you!"

A faint voice came from within the thick foliage. "Mario?"

Chatot snickered.

"NO! Not Mario! Do I sound Italian?"

"Stop your griping, _Squawk_!" Chatot laughed, then, growing slightly more serious, spoke to Peach. "Don't worry Princess, we're here to save you, Sonic and I. The others are down below distracting Whispy. We don't have much time. Let's hurry up and get you out of there, _Squawk_."

Sonic and Chatot then began to tear at Peach's leafy cage, but every time they tore away a branch in the way, another would quickly grow back in its place.

"This isn't working!" Sonic yelled, frustrated.

"I've got an idea, _Squawk_!" Chatot started to glow and then transformed into a giant dragon-like lizard with a flame on the end of its tail and giant wings on its back. It roared and opened its mouth wide. Sonic saw a spark of flame form within the beast's maw, and he suddenly realized what Chatot was trying to do.

"Wait! Wait! Hold it! If you burn it, don't you think Peach will be just a little crispy afterward."

The beast continued to prepare the flame in its mouth.

"Okay, I was being sarcastic. If you flame that cage, Peach is gonna be a lot more than just crispy. You'll scald her skin to smithereens!"

The lizard snapped its jaw shut and snorted, which caused small puffs of smoke to come out of his nostrils, as if to say "You come up with a better idea."

Sonic sighed, and then brought his attention back to Peach's predicament. "I don't know what to do, but liquefying her isn't going to solve our problem… Hmmmmm… I know, we blast right through it. It's just leaves and branches and stuff like that. I'm sure if we got a run at it (Not that we can run very well in a tree… You know what I mean.) I think we'd be able to break right through and get Peach in less than a hiccup."

The lizard closed its eyes, as if thinking about Sonic's proposal, then nodded. It started to glow again, than changed into a brown being with a long white flowing mane. Fierce yellow eyes stared out at him, and long, pointy ears poked out of the white hair on its head. Instead of hands, the being had three large green leaves that it waved about.

"_Shiftry_." It grunted at him, motioning for him to back away. Sonic did as he was told, wondering what Chatot was planning. It jumped away with amazing agility through the leafy branches until it was almost out of sight. Then it turned around and bolted full speed toward Peach's verdant pen. Its jumps became longer and longer as it got closer and closer. With a grunt of determination, it slammed into the cage in question, busting through the outer growth reaching Peach without much difficulty. It was getting out that was difficult.

Instead of turning around and going out the way it had come, as the entrance was already growing back, it tried to go straight out the other side. It almost made it, but it couldn't make it through the final layer. The last strands of greenery just managed to hold it back. With a yelp of alarm, Sonic rushed over and started shredding at the remaining branches while Chatot attempted to bust through with his bulk. The branches were slowly growing back. If they blocked them in, there would be no chance of getting them back out again. Sonic growled with frustration, and started tearing with not only his hands, but anything else he could use as well; teeth, feet, arms, legs, but to no avail. Just as the last opening was being cut off, Chatot wedged his arm into it, forcing the plants to halt in their growth.

"Way to go Chatot… Er… Whatever you are…" Sonic started to speedily work his way around the small opening. He slowly widened it, not enough for the plants to decide to grow back, but enough to get a bigger portion of Chatot's body through it. Using this slow strategy, Chatot and Princess Peach soon managed to squeeze through the slightly bigger opening.

As Peach dusted herself off, whatever Chatot was started glowing and changed back into the bird we all know and… love.

"Well, that was a tight squeeze, _Squawk_." Chatot sighed.

Peach picked up the bird and hugged him, causing Chatot to blush slightly. "Oh, thank you Chatot! You saved me! Thank you oh so much!"

Chatot cooed. "It was nothing Princess. Any other decent person would've have done the same."

"Too bad you're neither decent _nor_ a person, maddening fowl that you are." Sonic grumbled to himself. "What am I, scrap metal?"

Peach noticed Sonic and put Chatot down. "Oh, thank you too Sonic." She patted him on the head.

This served to infuriate Sonic further, but he only said. "Come on Princess, we better get to the ground and see how the robots, Link, Kirby, and Mario are doing brawling with the tree we're standing in."

"Oh! Mario! And those charming machines as well? Oh how lovely of them to come to my rescue." Peach proceeded to take out her parasol (with both Sonic and Chatot wondering where she had stored it) and made her way to the edge of the leafy exterior. With Sonic and Chatot quickly following her, she jumped off and used her parasol to gracefully float down to the ground.

_Meanwhile, at the base of the tree…_

Link was knocked back by one of Whispy's gigantic roots, not for the first time. This tree was putting up more of a fight than any plant should. When it had finished attacking with the apples (it seemed to have run out somehow.) it resorted to nastier tactics, the most dangerous being roots sprouting from the ground and flailing about.

Mario dodged to the side and evaded a falling root, but was immediately knocked down by another right behind it. Kirby was having a slightly better time of it, but not by much. Link winced as he got up. How much more of this could they take? He was about to go at it again when something caught his eye from up above. Chatot was fluttering to the ground, Sonic close behind, and farther up was Peach gliding down under her parasol.

Link brightened. "They found her! Great, now we can get out of here!" He waved to Mario and Kirby, catching their attention. "Hey guys! It's time to make a tactical retreat. Like, right now!"

Mario followed Link's gaze and spotted Peach and the others. Scrambling upward, he ran to the edge of the clearing, with Kirby desperately trying to follow while keeping an eye on Whispy. Their verdant foe wasn't going to let them escape that easily. Several more roots erupted from the ground and grabbed all five of the adventurers (and Peach) and held them in the air. There was a moment of silence as everyone stared each other with either uncertainty, fear, frustration, or in Whispy's case, smoldering anger.

"Well… now what?" Kirby asked.

"You're asking me? You're the one who's supposed to know this guy. I just save princesses and destroy robots. Trees really aren't my forte." Sonic shrugged nonchalantly.

Whispy tightened his grip on all of them.

Link winced. "If you guys could stop verbal jousting, maybe we could think of a way out of this pickle."

"Not likely, _Squawk_. I'm being squeezed tighter than an apple on Canada Day."

Peach stared at Chatot. "That doesn't even make any sense!"

Kirby sighed. "We… are… hopeless."

Suddenly, from behind them, they heard the shouts of Rob, Tob, and Cob.

"Alright Tob and Cob, time to avenge our automaton, Phillip. No relenting in our onslaught of revenge and valour. To battle we go! Retreating will not be in our arsenal of manoeuvres!"

"Great, those imbeciles are back. Maybe if they can distract Whispy, we can get out of here, _Squawk_." Chatot tried to squirm out of Whispy's grip, but Whispy kept a tight hold.

The three robots rushed towards Whispy. The large tree glared at the three tiny figures before it. Without hesitating, Rob, Tob, and Cob lifted their arms and hatches opened where their hands were. Out of the hatches, a long stream of fire suddenly burst forth and ignited Whispy. The roots holding the heroes immediately dropped them and started flailing around in panic. And still, the three robots continued their onslaught. Whispy tried to attack the three robots with its flailing roots, but was thwarted every time by their flaming weapons. They started spreading their attack in a wider radius until the entirety of Whispy Woods was engulfed in a sea of flames.

Link, Mario, Sonic, Kirby, Chatot, and Peach all gaped in silence at the robot's deadly assault. The robots seemed to be enjoying themselves profusely and Sonic thought he could even hear them humming a song.

Finally, after what seemed a good ten minutes, the robots cut off their streams of fire, and stepped back to admire their handiwork. Whispy's roots had stopped moving a long while ago, and now lay on the ground limply. The tree itself was blackened, the face now gone. Only the bottom half of the tree was charred, the top half still retaining its light brown colour.

The robots turned around and walked proudly back to the shocked group of friends.

"You…"

"I…"

"How…"

"…"

The heroes couldn't think of what to say after what they had seen. Never before had they witnessed such viciousness. Finally, Peach put the words they were all thinking into the open.

"You… burned a tree… to death…"

Rob turned towards the princess. "You needn't worry about the rest of the greenery, my dear Mistress of Peaches. Tob will be sure to extinguish the flames before they consume the rest of the forest. Only the blasted felon tree will burn today… Poor Phillip."

Sonic gasped. "You mean Phillip is…"

Cob nodded. "I say, Phillip has achieved his primary programming in this realm and is now moving on to the secondaries of his game of life."

Tob sighed. (If robots can sigh, that is) "Yes, poor ignorant little Phillip. To think that apples would be his bane. Not a very honorable end, but then, he was fighting for the Mistress Mushroom, so it does not matter much how he was critically damaged."

Link snapped his fingers. "Hey guys, I'm all for reveries and all that awesome stuff, but we don't really have enough time to dawdle here in these woods."

Rob nodded. "Absolutely right! Tob, go tend to the flames, I think they have burned long enough. Cob and I will go and retrieve Phillip and bring him back to Master Tails. Master Tails spent a lot of time on Phillip in the planning stage, he will want to say goodbye."

Chatot chuckled. "If Tails spent a lot of time on Phillip, it was probably to figure out how to make all the worst possible decisions in the brains department, _Squawk_."

As Tob , Cob, and Rob went off, Kirby brought up a very important point.

"So, how do we get out of here?"

For a while, no one could answer this, then, "Guys, I'm a bird, remember? I do have wings, _Squawk_."

Chatot took off from the ground and flew through the verdant roof of the forest. A few seconds later he came back down.

"Tails' lab is over there." Chatot pointed in the opposite direction of where Whispy was.

"Lead the way." Kirby gestured for Chatot to take the lead.

And so the heroes made their way slowly out of the forest, having finally found the princess, they were now able to venture onto the Mushroom Kingdom, where the portal to Distortion Valley awaited them.

_To be continued…_


	28. Ch 6 Pt 1: Gathering Storm

_Chapter 6 Part 1_

**_Gathering Storm_**

Tails' eyes widened in surprise. "Something like THAT was in the forest? Wow, if I had known that, I would have never left the princess on her own with Rob, Tob, Cob, and Phillip. Speaking of which, where are those four? They don't seem to be with you. You did find them didn't you?"

The heroes and Peach had returned straight to Tails' laboratory, under the faithful guidance of Chatot's bird's eye view. There had been no major misadventures on the way; not counting Peach tripping into a bush – she was still pulling burrs out of her hair. They proceeded to tell Tails of their daring rescue.

Kirby shuffled nervously. "Right, the robots. We found them all right; they even helped us take care of Whispy. They… had some business to take care of before they could come back. They'll be here soon."

Tails raised an eyebrow, but didn't press them further.

"You've cleaned up the place nicely, _Squawk_." Chatot remarked. "It looks a lot better than when we left. No papers strewn around the floor, the machinery is all repaired."

Tails looked around. "Yeah, it took a while, but it wasn't really that hard. The electronics were only dented, there was no inner damage. Also, the power couplings for the lab needed replacing, so this gave me the perfect opportunity to do that. After that, the-"

But Tails was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"That must be the robots now." Sonic got up to go get the door. Instead of the robots, however, Sonic opened the door to find Knuckles standing there, panting, and looking a bit tuckered.

"Kn-Knuckles? Did we… How did… Uhhhhhh."

"Y'know, looking behind you before you leave someplace is a good habit. Prevents you from _forgetting_ things." Knuckles grumbled as he shuffled in through the doorway.

Tails glared at Knuckles coldly. "We didn't forget you Knuckles, we left you behind. I thought you needed to be taught a lesson in manners after what you did to me back in Ganon's forest, or wherever that was."

"Tililt Forest." Zelda whispered, who was sitting behind Tails in the most extravagant chair in the lab, a plastic seat with wheels.

"Yeah, that. Anyway, I thought a good walk would give you enough time to reflect on your mistakes. Besides, there wasn't enough room for all of us in the plane; one person had to be left behind. I had to drive the plane, so the only other real option was you." Tails nodded curtly, as if the matter was over and done with.

Knuckles cracked his fists. "I'm pretty close to getting you to reflect on what you've done to me. If you'll just step outside, we can discuss our differences and maybe even come to a resolution that will benefit at least one of us."

"Tut tut Knuckles, is violence your answer for everything?" Tails wagged his finger at the red echidna.

"Yes." Knuckles answered simply, and then started moving menacingly towards Tails.

Just then, there was another knock at the door.

Everyone turned towards the knocking. When no one got up to get it, Sonic sighed and went to answer the door again. Standing there were the three robots, Rob, Tob, and Cob, who were all carrying the body of Phillip above them. The robots were sniffling as if they had been crying, but of course, there were no tears on their faces or else they would have ruined their circuitry.

They trudged in solemnly and laid Phillip gently before Tails.

"Very sorry, Master Tails, but Phillip was critically damaged during the brawl with the evil tree that had kidnapped Princess Peach."

"Yes, good old Phillip. It seems like it was only yesterday when he came off of the assembly line and… and gave his first '_HONK_.'"

"I say, he was a fine chap to wottle with and all that fine chipper stuff. Phillip might have been a bit unbearable at times, but he did it in a way that sort of made us feel happy inside. I will… miss the young lad."

The three robots then started bawling (Again, tearlessly of course) as they held each other for comfort.

Tails looked down silently at Phillip as he lay on the floor. He then heaved him off the ground, and brought him to a table near the rear of the lab.

"Where was he damaged?" Tails asked without looking up as he retrieved some tools from a drawer in the table.

"Oh, Master Tails, it's no use. Phillip was greatly hurt. He is irreparable." Rob sobbed.

"Yes, the apple that fell from above impacted Phillip on his noggin with such force, there is no good in even trying to fix him." Tob agreed.

"His head, huh?" Tails took what looked like a screwdriver and started to fidget with Phillip's head.

Rob and Cob glared at Tob, then caught themselves and started to bawl even louder, discouraging Tails from even trying to fix Phillip all the while.

Everyone else sat in relative silence, except for Knuckles, who seemed a bit creeped out by the robots' lament, and Sonic, who was sniffling and wiping a tear from his eye.

Suddenly, Tails cried out "Done!" and put the screwdriver down. He stood back as Phillip sat up and looked around. He saw Rob, Tob, and Cob (who had all stopped their tearless crying.) huddled together on the floor and cried out "_Mes amis_!"

Phillip rushed towards the three robots and embraced them. They welcomed him with open arms, but Cob seemed to groan slightly, and Tob was hitting his head against his hand.

Tails came back dusting off his hands. "It was simple really. Just a few dented innards I had to replace. Though there was something odd about it. There were severed wires everywhere in Phillips circuit board, the most critical place in his entire system. If Phillip was truly damaged by an apple like you said, then there would've been no way those wires could have been damaged. Plus, they were too cleanly cut to have been ripped by force. It was almost like someone had taken scissors to Phillip's brain." At this, Rob chuckled nervously and quietly to himself as he disposed of a pair of scissors hidden behind his back. Nobody noticed however, as everyone's eyes were on Tails.

"Luckily, I had a TON of spare wires and circuits from the last 'Young Gifted Mechanics' convention, or else I might not have been able to repair him." Tails grinned. "You guys should be very happy, you're lucky to even have Phillip hugging you right now."

"I say Master Tails, you are phenomenal. Absolutely outstanding workmanship." Cob grinned.

Tob stopped hitting himself. "Yes, we _are_ very lucky robots, aren't we Rob?"

Rob snapped his fingers and mumbled under his breath. "The luckiest."

Tails turned his attention from the machines to the organics waiting patiently for him to be done. (Except in the case of Knuckles of course.)

"You have no idea how often Phillip gets damaged. And every time, these three come whining to me about how sorry they are and how Phillip can never be repaired. I always manage to fix him though. Heh, they're a bunch of drama queens if you ask me." Tails laughed to himself.

Kirby looked from Tails to the four robots and saw Phillip dancing around Rob, Tob, and Cob as they whispered amongst themselves (giving angry glares towards an obliviously giddy Phillip). "I'm sure they are very happy to have him back." Kirby said to himself.

"Anyway, we've digressed." Tails began.

Knuckles cracked his fists. "I'll say. I've still got-"

"Oh shush. No one cares about your griping. Besides, you even said yourself that only a wimp would complain about walking, didn't you?"

Knuckles grumbled about not remembering anything of the sort, but everyone had ceased to pay attention to him.

"So Tails, have you fixed your machinery enough so that you can find the Mushroom Kingdom?" Link asked.

"Done and done." Tails affirmed. He walked over to a big monitor in the wall and pressed a few keys in the keyboard below it.

"Using the wisps of Dimensional Fragmentation, I was able to determine that my lab is on the fringe of a forest that used to be in Kirby's Dreamland. Using that data, I was able to determine the area where Mario was first warped, which, based on what you told me the last time we saw each other, back when you took care of Darkrai, was also in Dreamland. Then, following the wisps of Mario's Dimensional Warp, I was able to locate Princess Peach's castle, and thus, the Mushroom Kingdom." While explaining this, Tails was typing rapidly, and by the time he had finished, there was a map on the monitor showing their current position linked by a dotted line to another location on the other side of the screen.

"Is that it right there?" Sonic pointed to the other location.

"Yup, that's the place. It's within walking distance, but I think it'd be better if you took the Tornado. Whatever the ferocious beast that Ganondorf mentioned is, it will probably not be expecting you to fly in. And if it's as fearsome as he described, then you'll need all the advantage you can get."

Link frowned. "You do realise that the Tornado might not come back in one piece don't you? If this is indeed the portal to the big finale, then it will be fraught with danger. Your plane will most likely be damaged in the process."

Tails chuckled. "Oh, not to worry about that. I've lost count of all the times the Tornado's been shot down. I've always managed to repair it in the past. I doubt I won't be able to do it again, whatever should befall it on your journey. Besides, it will be piloted by the best flier out there. I'm coming with you."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Really? Are you sure? It'll be really dangerous."

"Don't even try it Sonic. I've made up my mind. And there's no way I'm letting one of you buffoons fly my plane."

"Well, if that's the case, you can count me in as well." Knuckles' gruff voice came from behind the group of heroes. He had come out of his grumpy reverie and now had his arms folded in front of him, giving them a stare that said "just try and argue with me."

Responding before someone could say something to enflame him, Kirby said, "Sure thing Knuckles. The more the merrier." Mario nodded in agreement with Kirby. Chatot and Link looked at Tails to see his reaction, but Tails kept a straight face, neither glad, nor sad.

"Ooh ooh, count us in as well!" Peach jumped up and down. She turned to Zelda. "Come on Zelda, wouldn't it be fun to go on an adventure?" Zelda raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when Link cut her off.

"Oh no! That is where I draw the line. You two are going to stay here with the four robots. Now that Whispy is gone, there's no danger here. You'll be safe. Besides, there's almost no room in the plane as it is."

Peach's head drooped, and Zelda closed her eyes in silent thought.

Tails turned to the four robots, who had finished 'celebrating' Phillip's revival, and now were listening intently to the organic's conversation. "You will be sure to watch the princesses closely now, won't you? Make sure nothing comes in and takes them, alright? You know how princesses tend to attract trouble."

Rob saluted "We will do our berry best Master Tails. No beast or criminal shall lay even a claw on the fair Mistresses. Isn't that right you two?"

"Yes sir!"

"I say, we'll do our bally old best, we will!"

"_HONK_!"

Tails turned around, satisfied. "Alright, we'll leave immediately."

He rushed outside to prep the Tornado, Kirby, Chatot, and Knuckles quickly followed him.

Sonic knelt before Peach and grabbed her hand. "My fair princess, I am going to a faraway place, and I might not return. I will pray for your safety and fight for your freedom. Fare thee well, my Princess Peach." Sonic stood up and heroically walked to the door.

He turned around to bid a final farewell to Peach, and saw Mario go up to Peach. He simply bowed, taking off his hat as he did so. Peach bent down and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Good luck Mario." She whispered sweetly.

Mario smiled reassuringly and then left. As he brushed past Sonic on the way out, he noticed that there was a sour look upon the hedgehog's face, and he seemed to be frozen in place, glaring into nothingness. Mario wondered what had made Sonic so upset. Whatever it was, it was probably none of Mario's business, so he continued making his way towards the Tornado, where the rest of the crew were climbing in.

"_Squawk_, there you are Mario. We were just about to leave without you. I'll be flying like last time. I don't envy you, the Tornado's gonna be really crowded again. Where's Sonic?" The bird twittered in excitement, flittering from one topic to the next, his sentences coming out short and fast.

Mario, glancing behind him, saw Sonic slowly following in his footsteps.

Chatot spotted him as well. "C'mon Sonic, hurry up, _Squawk_! Are you really the fastest thing alive? Stop dawdling, we've got dimensions to save, _Squawk_!"

Sonic looked up, but didn't increase his speed. He climbed up into the plane and sat beside Knuckles in the back. Knuckles looked over at his friend and punched his shoulder good naturedly.

"Hey, Grumpy, brighten up a little, huh? You don't want the bad guy's first impression of you to be a sulky little hedgehog do you?"

Sonic looked at Knuckles and grinned. "I wish I could say the same for you Knuckles. The only thing anyone could ever see you for is a gullible Knucklehead."

They continued their witty banter as Tails started the engines and Chatot took off into the sky. As the plane lifted off, the clouds ahead slowly gathered into a murky darkness. Masked behind them lay their destination, the Mushroom Kingdom, and the portal to Distortion Valley.


End file.
